Generator Rex: The Final Frontier
by KaliAnn
Summary: After receiving a strange plea for help, Rex must journey to where no one has gone before, in attempt to help the family he lost. But time is running out not just for them, but the whole world. Will Rex succeed in saving everyone and at what cost to him? Part 3 AU of Generator Rex trilogy
1. A New Journey

"Wha wha wha!" Eilonwy's cries echoed throughout Providence waking up most of the daytime shift who were trying to get some sleep. Most of the staff had gotten use to the three am wake up calls and simply put in some ear plugs. Only White Knight, locked away in the old extermination lab now office, refused determined to endure the sounds of the infant as some sort of rebellion. Anya called him a stubborn old man, but he called it being vigilant.

Rex groaned as he rolled out of bed and stumbled across the room to his daughter's crib. He picked up the crying eight month old and started rocking her back and forth. "Please go back to sleep little icon. Daddy has big mission tomorrow and needs his rest. Come on Eilonwy go back to sleep. What's the matter with you? Are you hungry, need your diaper changed? No oh I wish your mommy was here, but she's busy negotiating rights for EVOs in the Middle East. I wish there was someone I could ask what's wrong with you."

There was a knock on the suite door and Rex opened it expecting to deal with another angry grunt, but was surprised instead to see Ulani Holiday standing their in light blue nightgown. Since she was declared legally dead when she turned into the spider EVO it was taking a while to get through the red tape to restore her life. Until she was legally alive again she was staying here in Providence. Ulani missed teaching and was trying to find her niche. "Oh hi Ulani I'm sorry if Eilonwy woke you up. I'm trying to get her to settle down, but I think she misses Circe to much."

"Rex, let me in and I'll give you a hand." Ulani entered the suite and scooped the crying infant right out of her anxious father's arm. "You may not know this, but I was baby sitter for most of junior high and high school. Helped pay for my first car and part of school tuition with all the money I saved. Quintessa was telling me that your little girl was hitting all her milestones is that true?"

"Um yeah she's rolled over, she's babbling and starting to crawl. She's really a happy active baby. She just started sleeping through the night and now this. I wish I knew what was causing her so much distress," Rex said. He was rocking Eilonwy back and force desperate to get her to quite down.

Ulani ran her finger over the crying baby's gums and smiled. "Rex, do you have some alcohol?"

"No I'm underage! Why would I ugh there's a bottle in the fridge that was a present to Circe for doing a good job with getting EVOs to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But what does that have to do with hey you're not giving my daughter alcohol!"

"Relax Rex; your daughter is not going to swallow a drop. She's teething Rex this is a trick my mom taught me. You gently rub some alcohol on the gums to sooth the pain of the teeth cutting in and then you give her a teething ring. There see now she's okay. She should go back to sleep now," Ulani said handing the now sleeping child back to Rex.

"Thanks Ulani if I have anymore problems I'll talk to you first instead of Doc. You seem to know a whole lot more then him."

"Doc's a sufficient medical android and good protector, but sometimes the little things slip by him. Well I'm not getting back to sleep for awhile. Do you have any coco? I feel like talking and I can see by your expression you have a lot on your mind as well."

Soon the two of them were sitting at the table just chatting about inconsequential things. She would ask him about his missions and his relationship with Circe. She giggled at how upset he was that he was still not allowed to get married to her to legalize Eilonwy because White Knight didn't want his precious weapon distracted by wedding plans. She told him about how she was doing now that she was human again and that his uncle had made a tempting offer to have her teach the run away EVOs.

"It would be nice to teach again. I miss influencing young minds and helping make a difference in the world. Still I don't know Shaka and Anya make a good point that I would be the perfect teacher, but things have changed. The world's changed. I just wonder if I can fit into it again."

"Hey if I can be a magic using, machine building, EVO curing teen then I think you can teach EVOs. What else are you going to do just sit around here helping you sister look for more ways to cure EVOs?"

"It's funny sometimes when I hear you talk or watch you fight it reminds me of Wilhelmina and Kacancu so much. They were such lively and kind people. You truly are their son."

"Yeah that's what everyone says I just wish I knew if that was true," Rex admitted sadly. "I've heard stories about them from Holiday and Six, Anya and Uncle showed me pictures and he told me stories when I was little, but it doesn't seem real you know? I have no idea if they're telling the truth and when I hear these things I try to picture them in my mind, but it's always a blank. That's why I want to get married to Circe, so our daughter never has to fear that. Plus it would be easier for Circe to do her work if she was legally married to the guy who fathered her child. Not a lot of bigwigs can handle teen ambassador who has a child out of wedlock."

"You should bring up these points to White Knight. Fight for what you want, your more then a weapon you know. Then again White Knight is a zealot who beliefs will get us all killed one day. One of the reasons I've put off telling my sister about Van Kliess offer is because I would have to go through White Knight to leave this place. When I was an EVO he legally owned me and in way still does because of my status."

"Stupid White Knight. He's always been a prick ever sense I met him. He thinks just because he doesn't have nanites he's better then everyone."

"I think it's a bit more complicated then that. Anya told me how dedicated her grandfather was to keeping people safe. He's just afraid because he doesn't understand what its like for us who have active nanites. All he's ever seen is that they're a danger to the world when they were meant to be a gift to unite the world and help it. I truly believe if some day if a person was able to restore the original programming of the nanites then everything would be okay. Just food for thought and on that note you better get ready for bed. I'll see you at tomorrow's briefing. Good night Rex."

"Good night Ulani and thank you," Rex told her. He smiled as she left and headed back to his bed silently praying to whatever God or Goddess there was to let him sleep in peace. For several nights he had been having strange dreams. He hadn't told anyone about the dreams for fear they lock him up thinking he was crazy.

His dreams started off normal enough with him finally beating Noah in basketball and Circe giving him a victory kiss. Then he saw his daughter sitting up all by herself in her playpen waving her rattle and trying to speak. He was so hoping that her first words would be daddy when the dream suddenly shifted and he was terrified.

_Rex found himself floating in a sea of nanites. He could hear them talking and watched as they moved about in agitated pattern. As they surrounded him he started speaking out loud what they were saying._

_ "System error, malfunction. Attempting to correct, abort, new program, help us, help us, ah stop your hurting my head!" Rex screamed. He created his slam hands and pushed them away from him. He watched with suspicions as the nanites connected with one another forming a mini globe. A weird flash of light blinded him and when Rex could see again there was some sort of sphere inside the globe. "What does this mean? What are you trying to tell me?"_

_ "Rex, can you hear us? We need your help!" A female voice called from the sphere. It was so familiar! Creating his boogypack he flew closer and pressed his hand against the sphere. He was startled when two others joined his. "Rex."_

_ "What the mom?" he whispered. He was stunned as the face of his mother appeared on the other side of the sphere soon joined by her was a man who looked remarkably like him save for his eyes which were green. He smiled at Rex. "Dad? Ron?" he asked as a smaller shape appeared next to the man, a boy who looked like him except he had long auburn hair._

_ "How where are you guys? What's going on?"_

_ "Rex, we need you. The nanites need you. They're dying," Wilhelmina pleaded with her son._

_ "If they die we all die. You have to fix what is broken. Restore the project to what it was meant to be," Kacancu told his son._

_ "If you don't big bro all will be lost. Both worlds will die. Come to us big brother and help us," Ron said. _

_ "What are you talking about? I don't understand! Wait don't go!" Rex shouted as sphere containing his family vanished. The nanites around him turned black and started dissolving. He was caught in the muck being dragged down screaming when the sound of an alarm woke him up._

Rex shot up in bed sweating profusely. His alarm read six thirty and he could hear Eilonwy wailing and banging her rattle against the bars of her crib. "Man what a strange dream. Okay little icon daddy's up. I'll be with you in a few minutes. Man White Knight's going to chew me out if I'm late again to another meeting."

In Ops Six was sipping his coffee as he watched the two twins talking with each other. He was glad that Quintessa had Ulani back, but was wondering what would happen when the time came for Ulani to leave. After all what place was there for a teacher here in Providence? The only pupils she would have would be Rex and Circe if White Knight would even allow them to receive a proper education.

"I'm just saying sis that it would be a great opportunity for me. More then half the people living in Abysus are teenage EVOs without proper education. Even the adults don't have access to proper education. It would benefit everyone. You know I'm right and besides White Knight has been trying to thwart any effort I make to reestablish my life. I need students to teach just as you need EVOs to study sis."

"You could teach here! Rex needs a proper education that he's not getting and so does Circe. In a few years so will Eilonwy. I just got you back sis I don't want to lose you again."

"You won't Quintessa, but I have to think about my future. Is staying here treated like a freak really the best thing for me?"

"I hate to interrupt this stimulating conversation, but we have a briefing to get underway. We can discuss your career plans later Ms. Holiday, but for now we would benefit from you contributing to the latest reports on incurable EVOs," White Knight said appearing on the screen. Ulani glared and stuck her tongue at him, but settled down next her sister. Callan got up and ready to give his report when White stopped him. "Where's our weapon Six? If he's skipping out of morning briefings again I'll"

The doors opened and in rushed a haggard Rex with Eilonwy strapped to his back carrying a diaper bag and playpen. "Sorry, Eilonwy was being fussy this morning. Just give me a minute okay?" Rex said setting up the playpen, putting a nice blanket and her toys in there. Carefully extracting his daughter he placed her in the pen with a bottle of juice. "Please be quite for a little while okay icon? Daddy has an important meeting to attend."

"Coo ca coo" Eilonwy giggled and clapped her hands.

"I thought I made it clear that your child wasn't allowed to attend briefings," White Knight said frowning.

"What do you want me to do White? Doc's currently back in Abysus getting an upgrade, Circe's in the Middle East, and none of the grunts know anything about infants. I couldn't very well leave her alone. You're always going on about how irresponsible I am well here I am taking responsibility for what's mine! Now unless you want my child to get a major case of stranger anxiety I suggest you quite down and just tell me what's going on," Rex said defiantly.

White Knight was frustrated. Over the course of the last year and half he had lost most of his control over Providence weapon. He considered the benefits of having Abysus and Haven as allies instead of enemies insignificant in the war against the nanites. The infant in question shouldn't exist yet she was alive and well being used as propaganda and showing the public they were sincere in their efforts to make restitutions for the sterilization. His granddaughter's little protégé Circe was making strides in the political world. He couldn't understand how anyone much less governments were willing to discuss EVO rights ad use them to clean up environmental hazards. The point of Providence was to eliminate the threat not treat it and help them figure out life plans! Still his hands were tied, he grudgingly admitted his granddaughter had too much on him and support to ruin him so he decided to bide his time until he could figure out what do.

"Very well, but keep her quite. We have a lot to discuss about the rise in incurable EVOs and what are options are when dealing with them due to their mental status. Captain Callan if you would."

The briefing continued without any interruptions unless you counted Rex quieting his daughter a few times and wiping the gunk off her face. Really he had been paying more attention to the briefings lately. Callan was just getting the part where he was discussing the sudden surge of incurables in North America when Rex fell out his chair screaming in pain as he felt like a thousand drills were trying to bust open his skull.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Make it stop ah!" 

"Rex!"

"If this is some kind of joke to get out of briefings,"

"White he's not faking this. He's really in pain. Holiday what's wrong him?" Six questioned as Rex started clawing his head drawing blood. The earth trembled beneath him as roots wrapped themselves around the boy holding him down and Holiday attempted to assess the problem. Little Eilonwy was screaming her first word "dada" over and over again as she reached for her daddy. Ulani scooped up the little girl as everyone watched in disbelief as Rex touched a computer counsel. Instantly it lit up and White Knight vanished from the main screen. He reappeared on another and watched in the same stunned disbelief as a staticy image appeared on screen.

There was lot of fuzz and the sound quality was poor, but they soon saw the outline of lovely women appeared. Callan and Six quickly tried to clean up the image and manage to stabilize it, but they still were losing sound.

"Can….hear…? Rex….need….hel….Time is run… ut… Nanites are...ing… People are dy…. Re…need… please. Bring…. Fam….friends…. quickly… The world is….depe….on…you…save….it. I'll….try to con… again…. I love you my son," Wilhelmina said before vanishing. Rex slumped to the floor unconscious.

"He's in shock! Help me get him to the lab!" Holiday shouted. The grunts helped her with Ulani following close behind with Eilonwy. White Knight looked at Six the unspoken question hanging in the air.

"Sir that was Wilhelmina nee Stylana Van Kliess. She's been missing along with her husband and almost everyone who worked on the nanite project for 5 years. I don't what just happened, but I don't think it was a hoax. What do you want to do?"

"This is new territory for us Agent Six. We need to know where the message came from and how it relates to our weapon. As much as I hate to admit it we can't do this on our own. Call in help from Abysus and Haven if you can reach them. Something tells me that this beginning of a whole new set of problems."


	2. Medical Problems

Rex's screams echoed throughout Providence as he was rushed into the med bay. He was thrashing about trying to claw his skin and bite his tongue off. Blood was gushing from his nose and from his earlier wounds. Parts of his body were morphing back and forth from machine to skin. The ground began to tremble as the earth was responding to his pain. Holiday and her nurses were attempting to put lines on him to get some readings, but he was fighting all the way. Six and Ulani carrying a crying Eilonwy entered the bay in time to see them finish strapping down the frightened team.

"This isn't good at all, his blood pressure, heart rate; brain activity is off the charts. He's going to stroke out or die if we can't get this under control! Someone give him some pain medication! Where's my IV drip! Someone get me the deliberator and extra oxygen in case he goes into repertory failure! Come on Rex you have to calm down!" Holiday pleaded, pushing meds into his body. She frowned as she saw the readouts stayed the same. "Get me every piece of medical equipment and drug! We need to find out what's causing this!"

"Dr. Holiday what is the status of the weapon? Is the situation under control or should we be concerned?" White demanded.

"Not now White I have a patient life I'm trying to save! I don't know what just happened back their in Ops, but whatever it was put major stress on all parts of Rex's body causing them to misfire or overwork. More ice we need to lower his temperature! Don't give him the gas! In his state if we put him under he could lose control! Ah I need some help here! I can't treat his body if his nanites keep trying to protect him from me! Rex you have to calm down!"

"I'm trying Holiday, but it's like my head's about to explode ahhhhh! Someone help me please I'm going to die!" Rex screamed as he spazamed again. Grey metallic strands popped up from his body before he sucked them back. He was desperately trying to control his body, but it was like nothing was listening to him.

"This is getting bad. When is backup going to arrive?" Ulani demanded the silent ninja as she continued to sooth a frightened eight month old. She kept reaching for her dada crying for him. "They better get here soon or we might lose him."

"I had difficulty getting through thanks to the unexpected message scrambling most of our communications. We've always had trouble with synching up with Haven's unconvential communications link, but I'm sure that help from Abysus will be busting down the doors any minute," Six told her calmly. Inside he was panicking as well. That message was like something from beyond the grave. What could Wilhelmina possibly be trying to say and why was her son in such pain? 

Six didn't have a moment to contemplate when Seven of Nine, all four of her medical androids and a very concerned Van Kliess blew past the guards and into the room. Six raised an eyebrow as he noticed most of the grunts were buried up to their knees in dirt. "Sorry we're late, but with the Pack protecting Circe we needed to locate the portal gun to get here. What's wrong with my nephew?"

"We're not sure Van Kliess, but it seems that surprises run in your family. By means not understood by us your nephew somehow downloaded a message from your sister in law into our computers. We have recording you can view later, but if you would be so kind as to control earth for a little while I would be eternally grateful," White Knight sarcastically mentioned. Van Kliess motioned with his gold hand what he wanted to do to White Knight, but did as he asked. The shaking stopped and the med team continued their efforts to help the distraught teen. The pain was so great Rex had passed out making it easier to give him the meds and take samples.

Meanwhile Seven had connected two cables from her cybernetic brain into the medical computers while using her eye to perform in depth internal and external scan of the bodies systems as well as his nanites. What she saw made her look twice. It just didn't seem possible. "I don't like this one little bit, his nanites are reconfiguring themselves into patterns I haven't seen before. There reconfiguring his causing his nucleotides to twist. That's what's causing all this pain and overloading his central nervous system. From the looks of things they're trying to build up enough energy to send out some kind of transmission."

"Can you prevent it? Find out what he's transmitting?"

"Shut up Gramps this is hard work! Doc, get a breathing tube in him stat! Nurse see if you can bring down his blood pressure before he strokes out. Intern stitch him up before he bleeds out. Med, check to see if the test results are back. We need to know how much damage there was to his internal organs with the rapid transformation. Holiday how's his heart and brain doing?"

"His brainwaves are completely off the charts. I haven't seen activity like this since med school. His heart his slowing down, but I can't get a regular rhythm. What about his nanites have you been able to stop their configuration?"

"There not responding to my nanites! I can't link with him and get them under control. I don't even think its Rex doing this as much as an outside source is controlling them get down now! Android shield protocol 15C!" Seven shouted as everyone ducked and hid. Just in time as a Rex convulsed on the table before a visible EM pulse radiated outside his body and kept going only stopping once it reached the city. Rex, muttered something under his breath before falling back to the table.

It took White Knight exactly ten minutes to reestablish video feed into the medical bay. According to the mainframe a powerful EM burst had hit the base. Thanks to their shielding they hadn't lost power and managed to maintain most systems, but backups were running for non essential systems. "I want to know exactly what just happened, what the damage is, and how are we going to deal with our weapon obviously attempting to destroy us."

"Sometimes I wonder how we are even related. I'm not sure, but Rex released a tightly contained EM burst that spread out from Providence and stopping at the edge of the city. The burst contained a compressed message. I am attempting to decipher the binary code right now, but none of the ciphers I have are working. Doc, Nurse, Intern, Med, are you functioning okay?"

"We're fine the shielding you installed protected us from the blast," Nurse responded.

"How's Rex doing? Did releasing that burst get his nanites to return to normal? What about his biological systems?" Doc questioned, joining Holiday at checking Rex over. By the looks on their faces it didn't seem to be good news. "I don't understand! There shouldn't be any reason for this."

"We've managed to get his heart rate and blood pressure under control, but his brain activity is still not normal and he's getting a fever. He still seems in a lot of pain."

"I'm not sure what's going on with his nanites either! From the looks of things there changing their format again. If I can't override this programming and restore their normal programming/positioning I don't think he'll survive ah what is that?" Seven screamed as an alarm went off causing Eilonwy to cry even more.

Callan and Bobo came running in just as Ulani fished out her PDA. She watched the live broadcast as Callan and Bobo explained the situation "Five EVOs have just appeared in the city and they're heading this way. They're at least a level 2. Three of them are flying birds that shoot fire and they other two are Godzilla like creatures. They have yet to go crazy and start attacking civilians or causing major damage, but there is a general sense of panic going on. Local police and Special Agent Bradshaw are evacuating the area. Sir, if those EVOs stay on target they are heading directly for Providence"

"Talk about Murphy's law in action," Bobo mentioned under his breath.

"This is just great our weapons out of commission just when we need him the most. Call in a strike team to contain the EVOs. If they can't be contained then use lethal force to take them out. We don't have time to wait for our weapon to get better."

"Hold up just a minute! You can't do that!"

"You don't have any authority to question me Ms. Holiday. I still own you remember?" 

"Listen just because I'm not a member of Providence doesn't mean you should dismiss me so easily White Knight. As a teacher I pick up on things others might dismiss in order to protect my students. Those EVOs came into exsistance the exact minute that EM pulse struck the city. Anya said that pulse contained a compressed message of sorts? What if the contents of message were instructions of some kind?"

"You mean turn someone into an EVO and come to Providence for what to protect Rex? It's impossible! No EVO including myself can turn another into one. Besides Rex's gift is to _cure _EVOs not create them!" Van Kliess said angrily.

"I'm not saying he's doing it intentionally or that its even Rex Shaka, but someone or something is reconfiguring his nanites causing him to be in a lot of pain. This could be some kind of immune response to protect him while he's in this condition."

"If that's the case then we either have to kill Rex or kill those EVOs. We can't have the kid creating EVOs to protect himself. Captain Callan I want you to terminate those EVOs before they reach Providence. We can't afford to lose our weapon. We can figure out how to prevent this from happening later right now."

"Wait a minute Gramps you can't do that!"

"Don't start with me Anya; you should be thankful I'm in such a generous mood."

"You never listen you old man if you kill those EVOs then your going to kill Rex! My eye can detect something your sensors can't! There's a wireless feedback loop connecting those five EVOs to Rex. The loop in continuously filtering through Rex and then to them telling them to stay EVO and come here. If you kill them the loop is broken causing a big enough feedback burst to take out half the East Coast. We have two options. Either break the connection simultaneously or get Rex healthy."

"She's right sir its basic triage in medicine for stab wounds. Sometimes its better to leave the knife in until your certain of all the damage it caused otherwise when you pull it out you kill the patient," Holiday said, not even looking up as she took his temperature again. It was still high, but not as high as before.

"What do you suggest then? Those EVOs are a level two. Conventional methods of containment are not going to work with five of them running amok in the city. Even with our best agents we don't have the manpower to handle this without Rex."

"What if Van Kliess helped us?" Six asked startling the group with his suggestion. "His powers are nearly equal to that of the EVOS if that demonstration in New York was any indicator. With his help we might be able to use an energy cage and collar the EVOs until we can break the link and have Rex cure them."

"It's not that simple Kaori. Even though Abysus doesn't need me to be there constantly monitoring it thanks to the manna wave were still bonded. I'm much more powerful there then out in the real world. Plus there are my stabilization issues."

"Shaka we don't have a choice. Intern, Med, give Shaka an injection of stabilizer and go with him. Help evacuate the area and attend to the injured. I'm activating Protocol 14A giving you the right to use lethal force to defend yourself and others. Do whatever it takes."

"Alright, but see if you can send us some backup. Let's go we have some EVOs to stop," Van Kliess said. Intern quickly gave him the injection and ten minutes later the group consisting of Bobo, Six, Van Kliess and the droids were on a short range flyer with Callan's team consisting of our favorite Bug Jar grunts and their newest member, newly graduated Kenweth from Basic. They were flying top speeds to meet up with Noah and the police.

"Alright listen up everyone. The EVOs were facing are at least a level 2 and are on a direct course towards Providence. So far the damage has been kept to a minimum, but that could change at any moment. Providence secret weapon Rex is currently out of commission making him unavailable to cure or help with the EVOs. That being said we are under direct order to contain the EVOs without causing them too much harm. We will split into two teams. My team will join with Special Agent Bradshaw. Our objective is to lead the three flying EVOs out into the desert while Six's team takes on the Godzilla versions. We are to weaken them enough for Van Kliess there to hold them down. Once they're secure we engage the laser prison and collar them until further orders. Are they're any questions?"

"Sir, how can we trust Van Kliess and those robots to assist us! They're from Abysus and our enemies! What guarantee do we have he won't turn those EVOs against us?" Kenwyn asked eyeing the trio with suspicion.

"You need to get with the times young lady Abysus and Providence have had a peace treaty for over a year now. Besides why would I do something like that if endangers the welfare of my nephew?" Van Kliess told her condescendingly. He gave Kenwyn a small smile which seemed to make her livid.

"Why you!"

"Soldier that's enough! Like it or not we need to work with him. Besides, he's telling the truth. Now is everyone ready? Good prepare yourself we're entering the city's air space in five four three two ah what was that!" Callan demanded as they flyer started spiraling out of control.

"We've been hit! One of the bird EVOs hit our engines with a fireball! I've lost control prepare for a crash landing. I'm aiming for that vacant lot!" Pilot (anyone know their names help?). Everyone braced for impact as they hit the ground hard and kept skidding through the parking lot almost ending up in a brick wall. After making sure everyone was okay they exited the damaged flyer and hit the streets joining Noah, police, and a few other Providence agents as they were trying to handle the five EVOs.

"Where have you guys been? Your lucky today was a half day and I was on my way for some training when this occurred. Those five EVOs up until a few minutes ago were my teachers! What the heck is going on? Where's Rex?"

"Rex is sick and going bonzas back in the med lab. We're solving this problem ourselves. That is if Mr. Tall, Dark, and Scary can secure those EVOs."

"Charming as ever Mr. Bobo can you control your mouth or should we sew it shut?"

"Enough, we have our orders. Noah you're with me. Intern, Med you have your orders. When you're finished join us. Everyone move and remember injure not kill!" Six shouted hopping onto his hoverboard and drawing his katanas. He zoomed after the two Godzilla creatures a few blocks away. The trio followed after him and Callan's team started firing with everything they had.

Kenwyn was in her first real fight with an EVO as she fought side by side veteran Copilot (again anyone know those two's names?"), firing non lethal round into a harpy bird EVO. The creature literally looked like the pink haired Duel Monster known as Harpy Lady. She dodged behind a car as a fireball was launched at her. Copilot lobbed a couple of flash grenades startling the creature. It let out a squawk and started heading in the other direction.

"Come on we have to keep an eye on it. If it escapes into the city there will be a lot more injuries to deal with."

"This is stupid we should be using lethal rounds to knock it out of the sky. None of these bullets are going to cause a major impact on it!"

"I don't understand it either solider, but we have our orders. We need to get that thing into the desert ASAP. So less complaining and more fighting. Captain Callan have you engaged the other two."

"Yeah and lets just say the harpy duo is a trio now. There are seriously pissed off girls. Fire the capture nets!" Callan ordered. Above his head the three sisters attacked Providence agents with their talons. Three electrifying nets were fired out of the cannon. Blue and Green managed to avoid capture, but the Pink screeched in pains as the net wrapped around it. The EVO fell to the ground like a lead bullet. The two sister harpy's dived for their sister.

"I don't think so bird girl. Eat smoke!" Pilot shouted firing a large smoke bomb at the group. Blue peeled off and started flapping up a storm. The tornado blew through the group smashing the tanks into pieces. Several agents were buried, but not seriously harmed. With the Providence agents down the Harpy's freed their sister and headed back towards Providence. Unwilling to let them go Kenwyn fired a seeker missile. The sisters flew towards the desert and used a sonic screech to blow it up.

"Come on how many powers do these sisters have?" Pilot whined. He found out when they were attacked by a barrage of feathers. Copilot, Callan, and Kenwyn fired bullets driving the sisters further towards the desert. Kenwyn used an energy lasso to grab a hold of Green's leg trying to pull her down. Green snapped the lasso in half. Screeching again the birds took off, but this time heading to the desert to get some room to fly. The Providence agents jumped on their cycles and followed keeping them going in the right direction.

The fighting between Six's group was intensifying as they injured the two creatures and lead them out of the city towards the desert. Six had performed some flawless sword work stabbing and cutting the creatures up. When they fired an energy beam at him he used his magnetic feature to fling an SVU at it causing a massive explosion. Van Kliess was forced to raise a wall of earth to shield them from harm. When the smoke cleared he could see the cuts rapidly healing. "This isn't good. We need to keep them weaken and moving. Callan's team has already gotten the "harpies" to the outskirts."

"This isn't exactly easy to move 40 ton monster with just these wimpy laser pistols," Bobo hooted. "Eat laser you crazy dino freaks yaaah!"

Noah snapped together his fight sticks and extended them to their full length creating his bo staff. The tips charged with electricity. Dodging energy blast and tail strikes he dove under the beasts' feet jabbing them with the charged tip. They let out a roar of agony as their bodies were electrified. Their yellow eyes narrowed and the thrusted their arms out disabling the charge. With murder in their eyes both creatures started a game of Who Can Squash Noah First.

"This is not good! Ugh, Ah, A little help here! Oh!" Noah tripped over a crushed bumper smacking the pavement dazed. The two creatures grinned and brought their feet. The others were to far away to help. It looked like Noah was going to be crushed.

A blur snatched the teen from certain harm and fired senbons laced with tranquilizer while a phaser blast tore a hole in the belly of the beast. Van Kliess used the opening provided by the androids to create a gigantic crater sucking under the beasts into a lava tube pushing them into the desert. He sank to his knees as Med rushed over to her Lord ready with another stabilizer agent as Intern appeared with Noah. Six and Bobo rushed over too.

"Is everyone okay? No major injuries?"

"I'm okay just a headache. Thanks for saving my life."

"It is my duty to preserve life no matter what the cost. Med and I have completed evacuation and attend to all injuries. We have received word from Mistress with disturbing news. It appears the link is more then just with the nanites as Rex is showing similar wounds that the EVOs receive. It would be prudent to trap and subdue the EVOs quickly."

"Intern is right we must move. Backup from Abysus should be arriving in the next ten minutes. Lord Van Kliess are you alright? Perhaps you should sit the rest of the mission out. Your body is showing signs of distress from using your powers so much."

"No, my nephew is in danger and you can't hold those beasts down without me. I'll be okay. Let's finish the mission right Kaori?"

"Right hop on. Callan needs us."

It was a nightmare in the desert as both teams tried to corral the creatures into a narrow ravine where they had set up the laser grid. Additional grunts stood by ready to collar them. "Keep pushing them! They're almost in position! Don't give up!"

Kenwyn was running out of steam, but she refused to give up. She owed Rex for not telling about her lapse of judgement. If keeping these EVOs alive helped him then that's what she would do. With burst of adrenaline she fired her weapon nailing Pink in the right wing causing the creator to fall out of the sky. Angrily Pink fired a sonic blast causing the cliff face to break off plummeting towards her. Kenwyn froze with fear unable to move out the way. She braced her self for certain death.

Only she didn't die. She opened her eyes and saw a girl with pink hair who looked like a bug holding her. "Are you alright? My names Cricket what's yours?"

Kenwyn was still catching her breath as they landed on solid ground. A little unnerved by standing next to a controlled EVO who didn't look human she answered none the less. "Kenwyn Jones. What are you doing here?"

"My friends and I are the back up from Abysus. That's Tuck over there with Skyidd over there. Dr. Hansen requested our assistance in containing the EVOs because of our skills," Cricket replied. Both girls watched as Skyidd used his smoke to confuse EVOs while Tuck managed to use his paper like arms to bring to hold them long enough for Van Kliess to hold them in place with the Earth. You could clearly see the strain on his face and the relief when the grid went up and the collars were snapped into place.

"Finally they're contained. This mission is over."

"Something doesn't feel right Kenwyn. I don't think those EVOs are ready to go down." 

Cricket was proven right as the laser grid was smashed apart and the collars broken as the five EVOs combined their weaken powers to free themselves from harm. Everyone was forced to retreat with their weapons nearly depleted and their EVO forces tiring from the constant use of their powers. It looked like all hope was lost when everyone present was stopped dead in their tracks by a giant orange and blue T Rex roaring as it stampeded towards them.

"You have got to be kidding me! Now we have dinosaurs roaming the earth!" Bobo screeched. He got ready to fire his laser when Noah stopped him.

"No wait that's not real. It's an illusion!" The blond was proven right as the dino passed right through Providence forces without harming them and went after the five EVOs. The illusionary beast was forcing them back into the ravine scaring them. Everyone looked up on the top of the cliff face where a silver haired woman was using her powers to sustain the illusion. "Alright it looks like our magical forces from Haven have finally arrived!"

"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Pilot mumbled. His eyes watched as Marella dispelled her illusion wondering what she was going to do next.

"Icy Fortress Capture!" Marella chanted moving her arms in a complex pattern creating a tightly compacted ice fortress capturing the five EVOs. Marella was joined by Quade, Sloan, and Mage "The fortress won't hold them for long. I sense these EVOs are not normal." 

"Agreed. Somehow through the combined efforts of magic and science these creatures were born for the soul purpose of protecting Rex from harm. But what is harming him?" Quade pondered.

"We can figure that out later after these beings are healed. My Lady I believe that only your lunar magic can fix this. Do you know the Crescent ritual?" Sloan asked.

"Luna does and I can perform it, but I don't know how effective it will be considering the spell draws its strength from the moon when it's at its high and the solar high right now. Still we have to do something to make up for being late. We really need a better communication system because it took us too long to get from the Amazon to here," Mage spoke.

"Inoculating natives and healing the jungle is a noble goal, but we can debate that later. The creatures are breaking free."

"No they're not!" the one eyed Quade said. Combining his elemental metal with his projection abilities he shackled the group to the ground. Sloan hit them with a paralyzing jinx while Mage drew a crescent moon in the rocky earth. Standing in the circle she called upon all her lunar magic building it up.

Six notice what she was doing and contacted Holiday. "Holiday Haven forces are getting ready to cure the EVOs. Are you ready on your end to break the link?"

"Seven's managed to isolate the signal and prepared an algorithm to neutralize it. There shouldn't be any feedback as long as we time it exact. Just tell us when."

The air crackled and for a brief second the shape of crescent moon could be seen outline against the sun. A silver glow wrapped itself around Mage as she spoke the incantation. "_Lunar Crescent Healing Wave!" _

"NOW!" Six ordered. Back in Providence Seven disabled the connection at the exact moment the spell took effect. The five EVOs let out roars of fear and pain before tiny crescent moons wrapped themselves their bodies melting them away turning back into Noah's teachers.

"Looks like everyone is okay. Callan your team should make sure they're okay. I'll debrief our allies about what's going on. Meet you back at Providence?"

"Sounds like a plan Six. I hope that whatever is wrong with Rex is fixed soon. That kid doesn't deserve this."

Back in Providence Holiday and Seven were pleased that the link was gone and that they had managed to stabilize Rex who was still out. Now the difficult part of finding out what happened began.

Unbeknownst to everyone Rex dreaming the same dream again. Only this time he was alone with his father. "_Dad? What happened to me? What's going on?" _

_ "Rex, time is running out you need to come to the Nexus. If you don't all will be lost. Please son you have to come here!"_

_ "What are you talking about? Answer me!"_

_ "Come to the Nexus. All your questions will be answered," Kacancu whispered before vanishing leaving Rex to float in black void. _


	3. Secret Messages

It was relatively quite in the med bay except for the sounds of the machines beeping. Holiday was anxiously reviewing Rex's test results praying that whatever had caused the attack hadn't permanently destroyed his internal organs. So far all the results were showing no signs of deterioration. She softly ran her hand through his hair smiling. As soon as he regained conciseness she would exstabate him, but they had to figure out how to prevent this from occurring again.

"His test results have all come back. It's a miracle his body was able to handle the strain. He shows no lasting results from the rise in blood pressure and both his brain and heart are steadily improving. I like to run a few additional tests to be certain, but I think we're in the clear for now."

"What about his nanites? Have you figured out why they were attempting to reconfigure themselves or how they were able to send a compressed burst message to turn people into EVOs?" White demanded. He had watched the entire battle with the EVOs with a critical eye. While he was thankful that Haven forces managed to undo the transformation he would be lying if he wasn't worried that more dangers were in the wind. "Can you guarantee for certain that Rex won't be creating more monsters?"

"I don't think it was Rex per se who created those EVOs only that that the transmission originated from within his nanites. Anya and I managed to restore their original state however unless we figure out where that transmission was coming from and how it was able to reconfigure we could very well lose him. Ugh this would be easier if I had a full medical history. Are your sure Shaka doesn't have more complete records?"

"You're lucky to have what you do. When the event occurred tons of important data was lost. Medical, financial, diagrams, computer codes. Shaka's mind has been through too much to recall everything that was involved with the project. That's why he needed me to rediscover the secrets about the nanite batches. We need to know more if we're even going to be able to understand the binary codes and track down the origins of the message."

"So even with your vast abilities you're still unable to determine the origins of the message or if it's genuine. I thought you were a computer expert Anya." 

"I am gramps, but these algorithms are unlike anything I've come across. The coding is beautifully written, but difficult to translate into normal wording. It's a challenge I've been waiting for. I've managed to isolate the burst message and partially decoded with the cipher. Our suspicions about it being a call for help seem to be correct. The code does contain fragment pertaining to homing in on a subject to defend it, but I'm unable to find out how they transformed or knew where to come. I can say for certain it wasn't Rex giving these commands. I hope the teams have more details for us. Maybe the kids will know something that can help."

"We can hope. I want to help Anya; maybe fresh eyes can make sense of your conundrum. Besides I do have knack for complex puzzles," Ulani stated. Shifting the infant so she was comfortably resting in her lap she started typing a few lines hoping to decipher the codes.

A little while later Agent Six and company returned. The EVO teens were glancing around nervously; terrified that White would recognize them from the incident in Hong Kong. The magic users were on high alert as well unsure of how White would react to the presence. Noah was just astonished by the sight of Rex hooked up to more machines then he could count. Van Kliess was being supported by the two med androids. He really needed to return to Abysus and soon to properly recover, but he was being stubborn refusing to leave until they had a clear idea what was going on with his nephew.

"I'm not running an EVO convention. What are those teens doing here?"

"They were essential into helping us defeat the EVOs and I thought they might be able to offer us clues into what's going on with Rex considering their relationships. Also they needed a lift back to Abysus," Six explained as began debriefing White about what happened in the city. Van Kliess and Quade would add in helpful comments from time to time.

The teens in question were playing with Eilonwy who seemed to trust them perhaps knowing that they were friends with her daddy. She seemed fascinated by Skyidd's tentacles tugging on them and laughing as her hands were covered in slime.

"Ouch that hurts a lot! She's got monstrous strength for an infant," Skyidd comment as he tried to loosen Eilonwy's grip. Cricket took pity on the poor boy and tickled the baby until she let go. Cradling the baby in her arms she started humming.

"Coo la co ah!" Eilonwy babbled happily.

"I think she really likes that. I never thought in a million years that Rex would be a father. He seemed so wild for that kind of thing," Tuck said.

He looked over a Rex and couldn't help but shiver at the sight of his friend lying there almost like a corpse. He knew he was alive by the sounds of the machines beeping, but it was still creepy.

"Don't worry Rex is strong he'll pull through. He wouldn't leave his family and friends behind. He's been through tougher jams than this before and he's always come out on top," Cricket replied.

"Yes we were just wondering about that you three convicts," White Knight coldly said scaring the trio. "I have half a mind to lock you up for your crimes in Hong Kong, treaty with Abysus be damned, but I have more important things to worry about then three EVO offenders. So if you tell us all you know about Rex's medical history I won't lock you in the Hold for the rest of your lives!"

"Grandpa! They are just kids!"

"Not now Anya!"

"We don't really know that much about Rex's history besides what he told us sir. He didn't have a clue how he ended up in Hong Kong and when he came to us he didn't know Cantonese only speaking Spanglish. He seemed a normal EVO except for the ability to cure others," Cricket answered honestly.

"We knew he got blackouts. A couple times he had minor ones just losing a few minutes of memory during our raids, but they never seemed to faze him. As long as he had his journal he was okay, but he destroyed it to show us how he wasn't like Quarry," Tuck admitted.

"The only thing I found unusual was the guy would talk in his sleep. I lost several nights of peaceful sleep thanks to him going on an on about nanites and programming. What?"

"Skyidd this might be a clue to how we can help Rex. Do remember exactly what he would say? Did he sleepwalk at all?" Seven pressed hard. This could be the piece of the puzzle she was missing.

"He would mutter things like "rebooting program" or "malfunction." My favorite would be him saying, "Receiving data unable to reply message corrupt." Funny thing is he wouldn't always talk in his own voice. Sometimes his voice would sound a lot deeper and older. Does that help at all?"

"More then you think. The three of you should return to Abysus with Med and Intern to assure the populace is okay. Tell them we'll be back within the next hour or so."

"Mistress! We should remain here to assist in the care of Lord Van Kliess and Rex!" Med cried out.

"At the very least we would be able to help you crack the codes and figure out more about the messages being sent," Intern added.

"Intern, Med I am proud of how you helped protect everyone in the city during the attack. Your efforts saved many lives, but at the moment there is nothing you can do. Nurse and Doc can keep an eye on Shaka. I have tons of help with trying to figure out this enigma so no worries okay. Please, if something is attempting to override nanite programming then we need to secure Abysus from outside threats. Now I'm asking you nicely to return home. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes Mistress please be careful. Come along children put the baby down. Time to return home," Intern said gently. Cricket reluctantly handed the baby back to Ulani. After one more glance at Rex the group stepped through the portal.

"That was a dirty trick you pulled," Holiday hissed. "You brought those teens here to help persuade Ulani to go back to Abysus with you." 

"Not now Quintessa we have bigger fish to fry. Is Rex ready to extabate yet?"

"Not yet, he still hasn't regained conciseness and I 'm waiting for his latest test results to be sure its safe. His biometrics are a little low and I'm worried about his energy levels. All that stress on his body used a lot of energy up and I'm worried he's not regaining it fast enough."

"His manna levels could be the cause of it. We know from our battle with the EVOs that it was a combination of both magic and science that created them."

"Was that how you were able to cure them? Because they had been cursed instead of EVOed?"

"Correct Agent Six. As you know normal magic users can draw manna energy directly from the nanites to increase spells or control the flow so that if they EVO it enhances their powers. In this case it appears the reverse has occurred. It's almost as if the nanites drew manna _from Rex_ in order to increase the range of their transmission."

"The increase in energy output would have expanded the range of the EM pulse and explains some of the coding I've deciphered. The instructions here told the EVOs were to go, but it was the manna that turned them into EVOs. This program seems to be a latent emergency protocol that was enacted when Rex cast a protection spell to keep him safe when his body was going haywire. Still I don't think he would have the knowledge to combine technology and magic as one."

"No one has that ability to our knowledge. We can interact with technology, but to create a perfect blend of magic and technology is beyond our knowledge," Quade commented.

"Still we have to be sure that were not overlooking something obvious. Quade please return to Haven and check the archives for anything related to this. Marella I think you should check Rex's manna levels."

"My Lady!" 

"I'll be fine; I still have Sloan to protect me if there's danger. Quade I'm telling you to go back and start preparing for danger. Go!"

"As you order My Lady," Quade said. He chanted a spell creating a tear to travel through. Marella strolled over to Rex pulling a long carved and feather stick from her pouch. Chanting in a mixture of French and Caribbean dialects she began her exam.

"Marella should be busy for awhile. Now you said something about a transmission?"

"Before the chaos this message was transmitted from Rex. We have been unable to use conventional means to trace the origins of the message. Our experts are working on cleaning it up, but we need to verify its authenticity to make sure we're not chasing ghost. Here's the feed," White Knight said showing them the footage again.

Van Kliess's hands tightened as he watched his sister in law plead for help. Providence had managed to clean up the image so it was no longer staticky, but had been unable to piece together the lost audio. A single tear fell down his face as the image disappeared. "That's Wilhelmina no question about it. No one could fake her voice or would even know that Rex was her child. I'm puzzled though by what she wants though."

"If I had to guess she keeps asking Rex to come help before time runs out for the world. But what the world is in danger from she wasn't that clear about," Noah pointed out.

"I believe Noah's right and I'm detecting the minute traces of Rex's manna in the broadcast signal. It appears that wherever the message originated from was so far away it used Rex's manna to boost the signal. Still what is the connection between Rex's condition and the message?" Mage mused.

"Whatever it is we need to find the link fast. Rex's latest test results have come back. He's fine for now, but if he goes through that again his body will suffer cataclysmal failure due to the strain," Holiday informed the group after looking at the results Doc and Nurse brought. "He should be waking up soon."

"Good maybe he can answer some questions for me. His manna levels instead being depleted after using them in such unconventional manner should have dropped, but they seem to be steadily increasing almost as if they're being stimulated from an outside source. His brain activity is unusual has he been having strange dreams lately."

"The kid hasn't mentioned anything of the sort. Why you think a couple of bad dreams are responsible for this? That's a joke!" Bobo laughed.

"Laugh all you want simian, but the realm of dreams is a powerful place. When the body rest the portal to the inner mind opens up allowing for a number of possibilities to occur," Sloan scolded.

"Would messages from people thought as dead be one of them?"

"Yes White Knight it would be. The inner mind is open to all communications the physical body would be unable to understand. That's why many problems are solved after dreams. If someone was attempting to contact Rex a link through his dream to his nanites would be possible if someone knew how to do such a thing. But it's not possible," Marella said.

"Oh more then possible I think Ulani and I have cracked this code and you won't believe what it is," Seven whistled. Everyone gathered around the computer council where the binary code had been translated so it now resembled a repeating pattern of numbers and mathematical symbols. Even for genius like Van Kliess and White were unsure what they were looking at.

"I thought you deciphered the binary code. What exactly is this Anya?"

"I wasn't having any luck backtracking the signal so instead I thought if could figure out how the signal was being transmitted I would eventually discover the source. I picked apart the message until I had the codes and well this is what I found. Do you realize what we're looking at?"

"It sort or reminds me of my math homework, but this looks a lot harder then what we're studying," Noah remarked.

"What does this have to do with anything?" 

"It has to do with everything! Didn't you ever bother to research my human life when I was stuck in that Hold or did you just like to prod and poke me trying to figure out how incurables ticked? I hold masters degrees in both math and science with bachelors in arts. The formula you see before you is known as multidimensional hyper spiral pattern, it's a theoretical mathematical construct proposed centuries ago based on the idea of combing reality and virtual space as one by use of equal energy output ratio via biological and mechanical means. Imagine it! An entirely separate dimension of exsistance just out phase with the rest of the world, but very much real despite being an artificial construct. Mathematicians have been attempting to put this formula into practice for centuries with little success until about twenty years ago with the development of biotechnology," Ulani exclaimed excitedly. Her eyes were a glow as she tapped several keys showing the formula in action. However her explanation was a bit over the rest of the groups' heads.

"What? I think your going to have to dumb it down for us a bit more then that. I may have three Ph Ds, but I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Maybe it would help if we used an example for a base point? Have you ever heard of the show Code Lyoko? TMNT Cyber Portalmat? Unimatrix Zero? Come on what do you people watch for entertainment?" Seven said shaking her head.

"So were not cartoon or sci-fi buffs sue us," Noah grumbled. He had taken Eilonwy from Ulani so she could work more freely. The little baby was squirming impatiently wanting to be put down.

"Okay, I never saw this movie mind you, but the basic idea behind it is similar to this. Ever seen the Matrix? Okay now we are getting somewhere. Alright we'll try to explain this as simply as possible. The first part of the equation here correlates to the idea of reality specifically the reality of a human interacting with the world. The second part refers to an artificial virtual reality created a network of machines with their own energy. Are you following me so far?"

"Yes go on."

"Okay well see these number and letters here? These stand for an equal exchange of energy output creating a balance of energy in a spiral pattern creating a sort of perpetual motion machine. The idea behind it is if the human body along with all reality was digitally recorded and turned into binary code it could exist as artificial reality at the same time a network of machines in constant contact turned their data it bits and pieces of molecular energy that could be read as real information. The resulting exchange would create another dimension just slightly out of shift with this one existing as both reality and artificialness with a core or nexus at the center. Understand?" Ulani asked showing them a three dimensional model of what she was talking about. 

"I'm beginning to see what you mean. After all magic users have been shifting things out phase with the rest of the world for centuries, but we have always been anchored in reality. How would someone go about creating a network of machines capable of doing this continuously to support such a place?" Sloan asked.

"The nanites! They are the first biotech that was designed to work by incorporating their own internal energy by synching with the natural bio energy. Rex has shown us time and time again that they are constantly in communication with one another creating a vast network of information that that we have barely begun to tap into. Much of the information about the design and construction were lost in the explosion. My own memories are incomplete. Still to create this dimensional nexus would require a vast amount of energy for the initial momentum to occur. So what would cause that?" Van Kliess questioned.

"I'm not sure Shaka, but at least this explains why were having such difficulty pinpointing the origin of the transmission. Providence's equipment isn't designed for to track this sort of signal, truthfully nothing is. The best it can do is determine that the transmission is being sent through Rex fading as it attempts reconstruct itself into our reality."

"Then we need to build better equipment. Until we can verify with absolute assurance that the people transmitting the messages aren't a threat I want to double the guard. Anya, I want you to help our tech people figure a way to track this signal. Six, once our weapon wakes up I want you to find a way to keep him from receiving more messages until we can be certain the effort won't cause another disaster. If he's inner mind is the link shut it down somehow. That is possible isn't it?"

"Through intense meditation and practice Rex can erect mental shields to keep his mind closed, but its not going to work overnight. It could take months before he has enough talent to erect one. Your best bet would be to have him…" Marella started to say when everyone heard a commotion coming from Rex's bed. The poor boy was attempting to rid himself of the breathing tube and sit up.

"Rex! Calm down I'll get the tube out of you! If you can continue to struggle you're going to hurt yourself. Rex stop!" Holiday ordered as the teen ripped the tube right out of his throat. He pulled of the leads and sat up straight his eyes filled with confusion and determination.

Mage activated her nanites causing the aura around Rex to be visible for all to see. Instead of the usual reds and oranges with tinges of blue the lights were black, green, and white. "I don't know how, but that's not Rex! The auras don't match up. Someone is controlling him!"

Instantly everyone was on their guard waiting for the enemy to make the first move, but they weren't expecting him to laugh. He chuckled warmly and deeply before standing up. He held his hands up in a gesture of peace and spoke with Rex's voice only a bit deeper with more a bit of an accent. "Peace, I didn't expect this kind of reception, but I shouldn't be surprised. I knew Providence was a bit overprotective of Rex, but this is overkill."

"Enough games who are you and where is my nephew?"

"You shouldn't exert yourself Shaka its not good for your health I hear. Rex is find his own soul has been temporarily displace inside to allow me to use him to communicate. We've been trying for months now to get a message across. He dismissed his dreams and our last attempt seems to have gotten some results so we risked trying an override in hopes that we would be heard, but my time is limited."

"I believe Van Kliess asked you a question. Who are you?" Six said pointing his katanas at him.

"Kaori it's good to see you again. It's good to see new people after six years of seeing the same faces," he said glancing at Rex's reflection. He seemed sadden. "Rex certainly has grown in the last six years. Wilhelmina and I miss him so much. Its not easy being separated from your child for so long, were lucky we have Ron, but still we miss Rex."

"It can't be Kacancu vanished nearly six years ago when the Nanite Event occurred. You should be dead considering the explosion at ground zero!" Seven exclaimed.

"Well most of us involved in the project were caught inside an _implosion_ that pulled us into the Nanite Nexus. I don't really have time to explain everything I can't keep this connection going for long without causing harm to Rex, but believe that it's me. If you want proof I happen to know that Shaka never got grounded for running our Uncle's motorcycle into a brick wall when he was thirteen because I covered for him."

"It's him no one else knew about that. Kacancu where are you? What's going on?"

"Ugh, I'm running out of time little bro. I'm downloading instructions of how to reach the Nexus into your central computer along with some key data. Suffix to say the world is in danger. The nanites, they're dying Shaka and if that happens the entire world will too. You need to get Rex to the Nexus with in the next two weeks before the situation becomes irreversible. Follow the plans and come here I'll be able to better explain the situation. Tell Rex we love him and we miss ah," the connection was broken. Rex slumped to the floor with Holiday and the androids fussing over him.

"What about the data that was downloaded into our systems? Is harmful to our mainframe?"

"There's no virus attached to this gramps. All it contains is blueprints to building a device that would be able to enter this Nexus he talked about," Seven said.

"There's also some information about what occurred in the Nanite Event and some preliminary data on the nanites, but its going to take a while to sort it all out. We need to get Circe back here ASAP because I think were going to need her if you send a team to this place," Ulani added.

"We'll fetch here. In the meantime I think you guys should start getting busy. By the sounds of things the world is going to end in two weeks if we don't do something drastic," Mage said.


	4. Gateway to the Unknown

Four days had passed since the impromptu message from Kacancu and all of Providence was busy constructing the machine whose blueprints he had left in their database. Anya was in charge of construction and programming while the Holiday twins were reviewing the data left behind. Six was training a team for the excursion while Van Kliess, who was stuck in Abysus for a few days because of overtaking himself, was trying figure out what his brother meant by nanites dying. Mage and her friends were also helping by researching for travel to other worlds and commissioning protective armor for the journey. Circe had returned and was currently with Rex in their suite talking about what had been going on.

In their private suite Circe was feeding Eilonwy her breakfast of Cheerios and juice. The little girl was getting more of it on her face then her mouth, but the mother couldn't be mad as she smiled as her daughter said "dada" and "mama" over and over. "I'm so proud of you my little icon! Your first two words! At this rate you'll be walking and jumping about soon."

"Before you know it she'll be casting her first spell and building machines out of her tiny little body," Rex boasted proudly. He laughed as Circe punched him. "How was the conference in the Middle East? Were you able to negotiate for rights EVOs and created sanctuaries for the plants and animal EVOs there?"

"The Middle East is beauticious place Rex and the culture is ancient. I saw so many things there that I had never seen before. Still it was a challenge even with me following their traditions. Contrary to popular belief Islamic based cultures are the scum of the Earth that Americans are lead to believe. There wonderful people with rich traditions that protect the rights of both males and females, the true problem lies in culture identity of what is acceptable. Talks were stalled and there were some langue issues along with trust. Many of their leaders don't know what to make of me, but things were looking up. I was hoping to extend amnesty to the EVOs in prison, but then Dr. Hansen called saying you needed me. Why did you tell me you were having strange dreams? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do! How could you think that I don't trust you?" 

"When you keep things from me and try go solo it raises concerns. Rex you're the one always talking about how much you want to make our family official that you want to help save the world from danger, to be a good father, but when you refuse to talk about important things then you're not being that person. So please why didn't you tell me about the dreams? You told us during the Trials about the vision you had of your mother so what was different about this?"

"Because."

"Because why?" 

"BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO GET MY HOPES UP!"

"Whaaaaaa! Whaaaaaaaaa! Whaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Rex lower your voice your scaring our daughter! Shu its okay, daddy was just being loud wasn't he? Shu shu you're safe and sound that's right there's no need for tears. Anything else you want to scream at our child?"

"No I'm sorry both of you. You were right I shouldn't have hidden the truth from you two. If were going to be an official family I should open up more to you."

"Dada!"

"It seems like you're forgiven. Rex, please talk to me. What did you mean you didn't want to get your hopes up?"

Rex sighed and paced back and force for a bit before settling on the sofa. Circe sat down next to him with Eilonwy in her laps, both ladies looking up at him waiting. "Circe, I know that your past was painful and that your family wasn't loving, but at least you have one. I don't, I have no real memories of before Six found me except that one with Uncle Kliess with my family sitting down for dinner. It doesn't matter how many times people talk about my parents or share memories with me I can't recall it myself so it's pointless. When I had that vision of my mom it made me realize how much I miss my family. That only increased as our little icon got older so when I started having dreams of my family I thought it was stress. I thought I wanted to see them so badly, but dreams were just giving me what I wanted to see."

"But in the dreams they were trying to contact you, give you messages why didn't you take those seriously?"

"I don't know I have had similar dreams before when they're unloading my nanites into the off site tank. I thought it didn't mean much, but now I'm not so sure. Those messages were verified as being authentic so that means my parents are alive. My family could finally be complete Circe; you don't know how much that would mean for me."

"I have a pretty good idea Rex. We both want families that love us so why are you here instead of helping building that machine to get to them?" 

"Because I'm afraid, what if they hate me for being an EVO? Why haven't the contacted me before now? What did they mean that nanites were dying and the world would to? How am I suppose to help them out? I'm just afraid that what I find won't be what I want."

Circe placed her hand on his face and gently stroked it. "Hey no matter what happens you will always have a family with us here. I promise to never leave you alone and I know you'll do the same." Rex smiled and the two kissed passionately while their child looked at her parents wide eyed.

Meanwhile in one of the smaller labs Anya was yelling at the grunts to be careful with the equipment. "That is rare hard to get reinforced tritanium cobren metal! It has to be specially ordered and constructed in Australia a task that normally takes years, but we got a special custom express order! No you don't use that soldering tool to install the circuitry you'll melt it! Those circuits are from Sweden be careful! How many times have I told you be gentle with that computer core it came all the way from Nigeria! I'm surrounded by idiots! Can't you grunts follow simple blueprints? What is the world coming to?"

"Anya you need to calm down or your going to give yourself a stroke," Doc pleaded with her. He was assisting her with the difficult task of constructing what the two of them had dubbed the "Nexus Gateway". It had been a nightmare so far trying to special order the parts they need on such short notice and the start the construction of the device. Luckily the reputation of Providence and money from the R&D budget had helped get the supplies they needed in a short amount of time. Still problems were arising and Anya's legendary temper was reaching all times high. "Dr. Hansen they can't go any faster then they already are. It's just not humanly possible."

"Not now Doc if I wanted a lecture about my health I had brought Orderly! This is a momentous occasion do you not realize this? We're making scientific history here! Never before has technology from all seven continents been utilized to build one construct that could decide the fate of Earth."

"Still I think you should listen to your android. I can't have the only one intelligent enough to understand this crazy contraptions designs putting herself our of commission," White Knight commented from his viewscreen. "Sometimes I wonder if you inherited more then just the family stubbornness. You're father was never this driven."

"Don't start with me Grandpa! Dad was a brilliant environmentalist who tried to revitalize the world so keep your comments to yourself or you won't make it to your 57 birthday!"

"Point taken so why don't you explain to me what is the progress of the Gateway? May I remind you that we're on time table to complete this before our time is up?"

"How many times do I have to explain to you this is going to take awhile? The blueprints for the Gateway are helping us, but this technology is decade's maybe even centuries ahead of anything conceived. Even most of my sci fi based technology doesn't come close to this. We're talking about a machine that has to digitize a biological structure down to the nanoscopic scale at the same time preserving a real life environment, transform it binary and energy codes, store it safely in a mainframe with tons of backups and safeties built in then using a special laser punch a hole into this phased reality pinpoint a precise spot. Then with great care reconstruct the biological agents into this world as both real flesh and blood beings at time same time keeping them partially digital. This tech is just walking all over the laws of physics not to mention the Heimburg formula about matter, mass, and energy. There are no models, literature, or precedents for this. We're rushing production and you're not giving me time to run tests on this. I can't guarantee anyone's safety without some sort of testing. At least let me run some computer models to ensure that I'm not going to vaporize our Nexusnaught."

"Nexusnaught? Are we coining new words and phrases now?" Doc commented offhand. A glare from the Hansens' made him shut up. "Sorry just trying to break the tension, but Dr. Hansen does bring up a good point. It's important to run safety tests to ensure that everything is working properly. We could run a few mock trials with pieces of fruit working our way up to a gerbil. After all there is a big difference in recreating a simple piece of vegetation and a living breathing creature."

"I'm sure there is, but Captain Callan has just given me his latest report. EVO activity has increased by at least thirty percent. More incurables are popping up. At the same time countries all over the world are reporting similar illness to the Plague popping up. As much as I would like to run tests we don't have the luxury. You're going to have to complete construction of the Gateway by the end of this week. I'll allow you to run a few basic tests if you complete your work early. If you excuse me I have to go talk to the twins about the data we received. Keep working," White Knight instructed before vanishing.

"That man is an idiot! How can he expect me to complete this in time allotted and ensure its safety if he won't listen to reason?"

"He's just afraid as is everyone. Kacancu words have caused us all to be on edge. Come we have work to do."

Meanwhile the twins were busy discussing the data they had received. It wasn't much due to the complications of transmission, but what they had discovered was slightly disturbing. "This data can't be right, are you sure those calculations are correct?"

"Whose the mathematical genius here sis? I've triple checked the numbers and all the data is correct. How we're going to replicate this phenomenon to power the Gateway is beyond me. We could be in serious trouble if a solution fails to present itself."

"Ms. Holiday what is the delay? I thought that you had finished going through all the data. Report," White Knight said popping up on the screen startling the twins.

"Sir, please don't do that."

Ignoring the quip he stared down at the former EVO. "I want an answer. The Gateway should be completed in two to three days. I would like to know a bit more about where I'm sending my agents too. Now what did the data reveal?"

"I cross referenced the data Kacancu downloaded along with security footage to try and understand how most the nanite team got pulled into the Nexus. It a mystery how they managed to get the multidimensional hyper spiral pattern to work until I scrutinized the footage. Van Kliess mentioned that the nanites were kept in tanks behind a randomizing cascade force field to keep integrity until they were finished with production and programming. It appears that for some reason the force fields failed and collapsed on top of one another. This caused a feedback surge domino affect causing everything in that place to start going into a melt down. Now I'm going to freeze frame this shot and zoom in. By enhancing the footage and cleaning up some of the static there do you see this?"

"All I see is people cringing and screaming as an explosion is happening. How does that help us?"

"White Knight there wasn't just an explosion there was an _implosion as well,"_ Holiday explained. That caused White Knight to raise an eyebrow. "It appears that when the force fields collided into each other the energy created a mini blackhole that created a gravitational pull sucking almost everyone involved in the project inside before the meltdown of all the technology created the explosion mere seconds later scattering the nanites all over the globe. This was once and lifetime chance, a freak accident that can't be replicated." 

"Well you're going to have to have to recreate it somehow if we're going to reach the Nexus. I don't care how you do it just do it. Did the data give you anything else?"

"Most of the data was corrupt due to the transfer, but what I was able to save was astonishing. This is three d model of what the Nexus is and how it's supported. There are elements of reality such as air, heat, and real structures, but at the same time the artificial constructs have mixed supported by the nanites programming. It's fascinating really and with the data I can start to map out the Nexus, but it will be incomplete. I also recommend that we don't leave without those protective suits. Still unless we can recreate the power needed to stabilize the Gateway we're grounded. Who's going on this little journey anyways?"

"Rex and Circe are going along with me and Six. Bobo and Noah have volunteered and I know that Anya wouldn't pass up this chance and you know Van Kliess will throw a tantrum if he's not allowed to come. I know one person from Haven will be coming with us, but that it. We don't want to risk too many and besides we need you here to help out."

"Well with the androids and grunts help I'm sure I can keep the Gateway functioning. Besides who else will watch the little one? Not White Knight that's for sure."

"I can still hear you. I would watch what you have to say Ms. Holiday or I might take even longer to reinstate your status as human. If you excuse me I have to check in with Six to see how his training regiment is coming along. Contact me if we get word from Abysus or Haven about there end of the project," White Knight instructed before vanishing.

"He's such a charming boss not!"

Three days later the team was assembled in the spare room. The Gateway was finished and it was an impressive piece of technology. There was large circular platform with tons of cables connecting from the base to computer station. An arch with a circular top with ovals on top with blinking panels made it look like a cross between a stargate and transporter. A large menacing looking laser beam was on a crane in front of the device ready to digitize the group. A small panel on one the arches was open exposing the empty power core. Without a contained near perpetual energy core the device wasn't going to work.

"I'm impressed my dear by how much you've accomplished in such a short amount of time. This device is your greatest achievement to date besides cloning my body and bringing me back from the dead of course. Is it fully operational?" Van Kliess inquired as he examined the device for himself.

"The mock ups worked and I've triple checked the back ups and made sure to create redundancies incase of blackout or power surges. Using the mathematical formula and programs that Ulani was able to decipher the Gateway is fully functional. I have been able to pinpoint a place in the Nanite Nexus to place the team, there are just two problems. One, as you know is that we're currently without a stable core that can replicate the energy exchange needed to enter the Nanite Nexus."

"What would be the second problem?" Six asked. He was wearing his old uniform and was packing extra blades for the unknown. He had seen the virtual model the twins had been able to construct showing various parts of unknown territory that could be frocked with danger.

"Our haven allies have yet to arrive with our body armor to protect ourselves from the danger in the Nanite Nexus. While there are equal parts reality providing, warmth, air, and gravity there are other parts that are nothing more then digital constructs representing both physical and incorporeal places in the world. Your going to need not only a suit to protect you from harm (along with allowing us to monitor your health) you need some sort of craft to traverse the Nexus safely," Ulani spoke up using a laser pointer and slides to show what she meant.

"Then it's hopeless isn't it? Even if we get a ride and armor there's no way to get the machine operational. I'm never going to see my parents again," Rex said dejectedly. Van Kliess placed his good hand on his nephew shoulder trying to comfort him, but Rex shoved him off. All week he'd been getting his hopes up that somehow they make this Gateway work and he'd be able to see his family again and find out what they needed his help with, but now they were stopped by this.

"Rex you can't give up hope. I'm sure that if we put our head's together we can figure this out. We've already come this far with building the machine and figuring out how to survive the Nexus. We'll get there I promise you and find out what your father meant by dying nanites because I wasn't able to turn up much except the same corrupted ones I keep at bay in Abysus."

"Then you won't have to wait much longer. Sorry we're late we had a difficult time finding a particular treasure to aid us in this quest," Mage's voice said as she along with her bodyguards of Bevin and Dagan exited their silvery tear.

"Don't you ever just use a door?" White Knight remarked from his view screen.

"Folding between spaces is the fastest way to travel sir. Time is off the essences. Behold we have solved both your problems. Circe if you would demonstrate for us?" Bevin remarked. She pulled a small reddish gray spider broach from a pouch. Circe nervously stepped forward only to yelp when Bevin tossed the broach on her. The thing came to life squirting silk out of its back and crawling all over. "Calm down and stand still the process will only take a few minutes."

"The spider is part of a set of animal armor that came from the shamans of ancient Zulu society in Africa. The armor is super durable, lightweight, and flexible. Its flesh memory makes ideal to adapting to each person's individual needs. By incorporating the nanomesh Anya gave us into the armor it can no wirelessly send out data through the void to us to monitor everyone's health. Impressive huh?"

"Very, but what about our transport and the power core? Have your magical powers solved that particular issue?" White Knight asked.

"If you could bring in one of your smaller ships I could use a shrinking spell to make it the appropriate size for the trip. As for the power source we have this," Dagan said holding up a glitter semi transparent gold crystal. You could literally feel the energy coming off the crystal. "This is a rare sun crystal. It contains all the power of the sun inside."

"A contained thermal near perpetual solar reaction? That might just work. Give me a few minutes and I'll modify the core for it. Okay everyone cross your fingers and pray this works. It works we can go!"

A few minutes later everyone was dressed in their armor and Mage had shrunk one of the flyers. She was going with them while her body guards remained behind to monitor the machines. Eilonwy was crying profusely as she watched her parents get on the shrunken ship fearing she would never see them again. Ulani activate the machine and it came to life. A brilliant white light scanned them downloading their data into the computer before the laser digitized them. A few tap of the keys and the laser worked with the arch to open a gateway into the Nexus. Wind howled as they were sent as a signal into the void. They got confirmation a few minutes later that the group had made it. Time to find the Nexus center and save the world!


	5. Final Frontier

The team was memorized by what they saw inside the Nanite Nexus. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before. Outside their little transport they saw a menagerie of colors from all forms of the EM spectrum. They were traveling down what appeared to be a tunnel of lights. Different structures in the shapes of buildings, statues, and even landscapes were dotted with pockets of bubbles with shadowy images of people, plants and animals could be seen. Complementing the bizarre world was the helix pattern of large nanites rotating around them.

"This is beyond anything we imagined. This is a living example of the multidimensional pattern! Those colored constructs are the digital representation of buildings, networks, not to mention data streams! The bubbles are reality enclosed spaces reflecting actual beings and its all operating at real time flow. My circuits are going nuts! Are you receiving this data?" Seven demanded through the comlink to Ulani. Seven was wearing purple and black body armor with jeweled monkey at the center. It was very form fitting and accommodated her implants nicely. Both she and Van Kliess were flying the transport. Six was up front manning the weapons while the remainder of the team was in the cramped back space analyzing the incoming data and going over the plan for when they reached the Central Nexus.

"There….is….a delay….. between… communications. I'm doing my…to….clean it up. We're having a lot of trouble keeping in contact, but….I'm…doing my best. I am receiving your data. Your right about it being the most beautiful thing we've…imagined," Ulani said. She was adding the data to her map and then cross checking it with Providence global map to understand where they were relatively speaking. "According to the data you've already traveled hundreds of miles from Providence. If you keep on this course you should be able to find the center of the Nanite Nexus in a day or two maybe less."

"Agent Six, Dr. Holiday have either of you received any further transmissions from our host telling you where to go or what they want exactly?" White Knight questioned.

"Negative Sir. Nothing, but dead air since our arrival. We keep sending out burst messages hoping to lock onto a reality bubble that sent the message, but so far nothing. We'll continue to keep a look out for them and any signs of trouble," Six responded. His black and green armor was held together by a crocodile pendant. He was very worried about encountering dangers and unknowns from this would and kept one hand on his katanas. "We'll keep this line open and let you know when we reach the Nexus. Stand by to pull us out if something goes wrong. Six out."

"That doesn't sound to encouraging. As much as I would enjoy studying the Nexus I thinking we should locate my fellow research colleagues as soon as possible. The threat of dying nanites is something I'm not looking forward to," Van Kliess said from his pilot seat. His armor was brown and gold with a lion at the center of his chest. "According to our navigation computers there nothing out there, but data streams and symbolic images. I've attempted to lock onto a reality bubble that had the DNA patterns of my brother and his wife but there is a lot of interference. This could take a little while."

"Keep trying we don't know how long we have. Time could very well pass differently here. We may have less time then we believe. Holiday what's our status report?"

"Everyone's healthy and happy for now, but I'm worried Six. According to my sensors the active nanites inside the EVOs are greatly agitated. Ever since we arrived in this Nexus they've been attempting to synch themselves up with their nanites. They're attempting to talk directly with the network," Holiday explained as she scanned the data. "I'm afraid that if they do manage it the direct contact will be too much for their minds to handle and end up putting them in a vegetative state do to system overload. Does the armor come with jamming equipment?" Holiday inquired taking another looked down at her own gold and red armor held in place by an owl broach. "Mage, you're more familiar with this armor's capabilities then I am. Did you incorporate any defense against the nanites when you merged the armor with the nanomesh?"

"The armor itself is very old and powerful Dr. Holiday. Forged by African Shamans to fight and defend themselves against powerful demons the durability, strength, and power of the armor is second to none. It even bestows some of the animal's strength into the user. The nanomesh that Dr. Hansen lent us was a challenge to incorporate without losing its ability to regulate an individuals needs and keep us in contact with reality, but our enchanters managed. It is difficult to truly shield active nanites from others while we are here. The mesh does have slight jamming abilities, but it us to our individual will power to keep the nanites at bay. Still the deeper we go in this Nexus the harder it will be," Mage said, her white and silver hare armor glistening in the low light. Beads of sweat could be seen pouring down her face past her face plate.

"I don't understand. The world outside is just a combination of our reality mixed with digital reconstructions and virtual images of nanites. Those floating helix of nanites aren't real are they?" Noah asked confused. He was wearing the standard black and white outfit with a leopard on his chest. He glanced out the window and shivered at the sight before him. This entire place was giving him a serious case of the heebeejibes.

"They can't be real kid; I mean the nanites are stuck inside our bodies not free floating in the air. Unless we shrunk when that Gateway thing sent us here? We're not nanoscopic floating in someone's bloodstream are we?" Bobo jeered as he attempted to scratch his head but was restricted by his appropriately mute brown and chimp armor.

"Not exactly you two. The world outside us is just out of phase with reality and held together by both digital energy and biological components. When we were scanned our molecule structure was digitized then reconstructed into digital bites at the same time preserving our biological structures. When the laser broke through into this out phase dimension we were in a sense shrunk, but at the same time we weren't. It's very complicated just remember how Haven both exist and doesn't at the same time and you'll understand maybe a fraction. The point is those nanites out there are real and if they're attempting to link with the active ones in your bodies it could spell disaster because of our size and real life personas. It would be best if we just used our sensors to figure out where we are and talk with them if it comes down to that," Holiday tried to explain.

"Who cares about that? The important thing is to find this Nexus Center and see if there's anyone alive to explain what Rex's parents meant. Have you been to come up with anymore information about the nanites dying or how Rex is supposed to be able to stop it?" Circe questioned anxiously. Both she and Rex were anxious to see if there would be a family reunion and if not fix whatever was broken so they could get back to their daughter who was probably screaming her head off missing them. "The nanites out there look perfectly healthy and stable. They're showing no signs of degradation or instability. I'm puzzled to what the problem is"

"I'm not sure myself Circe, none of our sensors are picking up signs of infected nanites, but that could change any minute. We need to remain vigilant for any signs of danger. For now I think its best we eat something. We can eat in these suits right?"

"Correct all you have to do is to think for the face plate up and it will move so you can eat. I packed us some notorious meals way better then rations. Bobo, Noah want to help me set up lunch?"

"Sure Bobo is all about eating!"

"Hey that food isn't all for you!"

Circe shook her head at the boy's antics before turning to face her boyfriend. Rex had been extremely quite the entire time they had been in this world not even looking out the window and admiring the view. He seemed very disinterested and saddened. He was just sitting there in his seat looking really buff and heroic in his orange and black cheetah armor "Hey Rex how's it going? Rex? REX!"

"Oh hey Circe sorry I didn't see you there. What's going on have we arrived yet?"

"No were still trying to figure out where we are in this crazy world. Lord Van Kliess and Seven are up front working with Ulani to try and piece together a map that will help us navigate this world. White Knight had the idea that Central Nexus would be close to the epicenter of the main event was so trying to find that exact spot."

"Wouldn't that be Abysus? Why not just journey there?"

"It's hard to figure out where we are comparatively speaking with the real world. The reality bubbles out there show us only a small bit of the real world so pinpointing Abysus is hard. Not to mention all these digital constructs are causing difficulty because some of them are from computer networks far from Abysus. Besides even if we make it to Abysus the implosion could have pulled the scientist and that part of reality further away due to filling the void up. Don't worry we'll find them and then you can introduce me to your parents and brother. I'm sure they would love to meet me and hear all about Eilonwy. I wish we could have brought her with us."

"It's too dangerous here for an infant you know that Circe. I just hope the grunts are mistreating her. Basiley, Jones all of them know nothing about caring for a baby. All they want to do is blow things up."

"Those grunts happen to be top Providence agents and our friends. I'm sure that if they can handle Weaver they can also handle our child. Besides Doc is helping out so there's no reason to worry Rex. She's not going to be kidnapped and taken from us again. I promise she'll be there when we return."

"I know that Circe I'm not worried about that. I'm just I don't know what I am. The closer we get to finding the Central Nexus, the closer we get to seeing my family and I just."

"Oh Rex I thought we resolved this. No matter what happens you're family will be happy to see you. They _need you _not just to solve this problem with the nanites, but because you're their son and their family won't be complete until they have you in their arms again. Trust me on this one. Now let's get some lunch and maybe later I'll treat you to a private concert."

"Oh I would love that. What are you singing tonight for me? At the Beginning? Love Will Find a Way? I Will Be Your Friend? Hey you have to tell me!"

The next couple of days were totally uneventful as the small group continued to explore the world they were in. Ulani had been helping them created their map and actually use the data streams and networks to guide them on their way. One time she had to save them from getting sucked into a decompiler, but they managed to survive. White Knight told them the increase in EVO activity was reaching an all time high and if they didn't finish their mission soon he would yank the plug and pull them back. Now Four days into this journey they had finally arrived near the part of the Nexus that was Abysus and were beginning to send out pings trying to locate the proper reality bubble they needed.

"This is a little like looking for a needle in a virtual haystack, but at least we're finally in the correct mainframe. I've managed to tap into the data streams outside and have uploaded the data into our own computers. It's astonishing really how much access we have when we plug directly into the data transmission. Firewalls, encryption, passwords are easy to counter with my implants working real time at the same operating speed as the data here. I wish I could replicate this back in the real world," Seven mused as her cerebral cortex sifted through the data at inhuman speeds. "Hmm that interesting and something I would not have noticed."

"You discover something of importance?" Six asked.

"Sort of I think it's a breach in security, but I do not understand how."

"What do you mean Anya? I've been monitoring the data input since our arrival in the Nexus and it seems to be routine data exchange. The streams were accessing right now appear to be from an online fanfiction website. Nothing to be concerned about," Holiday said entering the cabin.

"Have you heard the expression look underneath the underneath? It's old ninja saying. The data stream out there _is _from a website like you described, but underneath that I'm detecting a worm whose origins are not from _any_ computer system. It seems to have originated itself right here in this Nexus."

"How is that even possible? Computer programs have to be written and created on a network before they're sent out. I learned that in AP computer classes," Noah mentioned as the rest of the group entered the cabin.

"I didn't know you were in AP classes. How smart are you bro?"

"Can we worry about that later? Don't you idiots realize what that worm program means? Someone in this nexus is using it to try and gain a foothold in the real world. If that's the case maybe we find out who sent the worm by tracking the bits back to the source. This could be the clue we've been waiting for," Circe remarked.

"Problem, the worm is very hard to detect and trace. The only reason we picked up on it because it tried to access Anya's brain and was destroyed when it hit her biological systems. Our sensors are not sensitive enough to track it. Would Providence be able to?" Van Kliess asked.

"I'll check. White Knight come in. Providence come in please. Can you hear me?"

"You're coming in loud and clear Six. Have you made contact with scientists yet?" Ulani asked. In the background a screaming Eilonwy could be heard crying out for her mama and dada.

"Would someone shut that kid up already? This is a highly established government base not a daycare. Agent Six report what progress has you made?"

"I'm sending you what appears to be a worm program created in the Nexus. Our sensors aren't sensitive enough to track it. Can you trace it and tell us where it was sent from? It could lead us to the Central Nexus."

"Ms. Holiday do you have any degrees in computers by any chance?"

"No Mr. Knight I don't, but you have androids here whom should be able to isolate and trace the computer program. Orderly? Do you have the IP address yet?" 

"This will take a few minutes whoever wrote this is a programming genius. This worm has more protection and false starts then most Pentagon programming. Another minute and alright I'm downloading coordinates into your navigation computers. The worm originates in a reality bubble about well I guess you could say about two miles down stream from your current position. I would be careful there's some unusual reading coming from that area and we haven't been able to map it yet. You'll be flying in blind."

"Duly noted we'll keep you informed of the situation. Six out."

"Duly noted Six? You're really starting to sound like a very bad spy movie."

"Laugh all you want Rex, but I have a bad feeling. Something is stirring the two souls in my body. We should keep vigilant," Mage said glancing out of the window at swirling nanites. They're seemed to be even more of them then usual and they were blue or yellow more a jet color. Her own active nanites were greatly agitated as they flew further down the stream. About halfway to their destination the nanomesh in her armor started sending out alarms and she let out a shriek of pain as she along with every other EVO collapsed to the ground rolling around in pain.

The transport started nose-diving as the nanites outside the transport start attacking it. The black gooey nanites were morphing into unstable goop eating its way through the hull to get at the EVOs inside. Noah and Holiday grabbed the controls trying to steady there ride as Six started firing the weapons. Klaxons could be heard and the whole ship was buckling under the additional weight.

"Agent Six report what is happening! Six…come in! Why are they responding? Dammit someone tell me what's going on!" White Knight demanded.

"There communications array was damaged sir they've stopped transmitting. According to the data they were being attacked by highly volatile and unstable nanites. The corrupt signal was interfering with the normal function of EVO allies. Right now Agents Six, Holiday, and Bradshaw are on their own probably attempting to keep everyone safe," A grunt replied.

"I don't care what it takes reestablish that connection! We need to see what's going on with our agents!"

"Quintessa! Oh please be safe. Don't cry little icon I'm sure your parents are okay. Please let them be okay," Ulani whispered.

Back in the Nexus the corrupt nanites had eaten through the hull and were going after the EVOS. Six was attempting to use his swords to force them back while Noah used his stun blaster. The ship was buckling again causing Noah to nearly lose balance. "Can you please keep the ship steady? I'm afraid I'm going to hit Rex!"

"I'm doing the best I can, but the stabilizers are shot and were running on half thrusters!"

"See if you can find us a safe harbor Holiday! If we don't get rid of these corrupt nanites soon I'm afraid were not going to last very long!" Six said tossing one his extra blades like a boomerang cutting back the wave that was mere inches from a withering Rex. Blood was staring to drip from his nose and pores as he clutched his girlfriend's hand. Her second mouth would start to appear only to vanish. The others were just like that unable to defend themselves.

"This is nuts nothing we do has any affect on these nanites! We need a miracle!" Noah exclaimed as black inky whip lashed out and snatched away his gun. He jerked out his bo staff ready to fight when something else hit the transport, but this time it made the nanites quiver and shriek starting to retreat. "Okay thank you, but what was that?"

"We've got company outside!" Holiday shouted. It was true a lone rider on what appeared to be a modified wave bike were reptilian gray armor covering the person from head to toe was shooting a blue energy beam of sorts at the ship. The corrupt nanites were starting to disperse and retreat. "Whoever that is firing a modified polarity beam. It's causing the nanites to reveres and let go!"

"Good, but we have another problem now. How do we plug the hole in the hull to keep our reality inside the ship?" Six questioned. He and Noah were managing to push back more of the nanites now, but they were escaping at alarming rate giving them little chance to preserve their reality. Their mysterious rescuer dove for the whole whipping out a blue polarity lasso. Snagging the corrupt nanites the savior pulled them out of the hole and away before activating a fore field to keep the reality inside the ship.

The savior parked the bike and passed harmlessly through the field. Noah and Six readied their weapons, but the person held up their arms in a non threatening gesture. Tapping a gold button on the armor a high pitch squeal was heard for a few seconds before the EVOs started slowly to stop withering. The savior started speaking in a high pitched sound wave that made no sense to anyone.

"Thank you for saving us, but we have no idea what you're saying," Six said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Noah and Holiday, (who managed to get the autopilot working) were checking the EVOs over.

Nodding their savior undid the buckles to her helmet and removed it slowly revealing a lovely head of shiny black hair, olive skin, and brown eyes. She spoke with the hint of Mexican accent. "Sorry you just can't talk in these things. You're lucky I was patrolling when I did. The nanites out here are very unstable and close to the death. They try to latch on to any healthy batch they come in contact with in a hope of keeping alive longer, but unless the degradation is stopped at the source there's not much chance of that. If you have active nanites you need a jammer when traveling outside the Central Nexus."

"Um who are you and what are you talking about?" Noah asked.

"Sorry, it's been so long since we've seen other people besides ourselves we've forgotten a lot of manners. My name is Dr. Luiza Garcia Maltovel Rico. I was no _am_ the head biologist on the Nanite Project. I was told to keep an eye out incase Kacancu and Wilhelmina's long lost son managed to find his way here. Thank you for coming. If you'll follow me I'll take you Central Nexus."


	6. The Central Nexus

Dr. GMR was checking over the EVOs with Dr. Holiday to ensure their active nanites hadn't picked up any corrupt out of control programming from the dying nanites. All human EVOs were okay, but they had to run a special cleansing program to get Bobo's nanites back under control because he was starting to decay. After making sure that he was able to stand up by himself Dr. GMR turned to Six and Holiday, "Time's running short and we need to get back to Central Nexus before we're attacked again. Since your navigation is busted you're going to have to follow me on my databike. How's your communication array?"

"Our external array was damaged in the attack. We've lost contact with Providence, but internal communications are okay. I'll route your communication frequency into our ear pieces. Once we arrive at the Central Nexus do you think someone would be able to fix our transport? We need to get in touch with Providence," Holiday informed her anxiously. She was desperate to get back in touch with her sister.

"We have a lot of experts, but it could take a little while considering how hard it is to establish reliable communication with the real world. We've learned and adapted a lot over the past six years, but there are still many more challenges. Alright keep close and be on the look out for danger. The Central Nexus isn't that far from here," Dr. GMR replied, slipping her helmet back on. She passed through the field and got on her databike. Revving the engine she took off with the transport close behind her.

"This is it. We're finally going to get the Central Nexus. Maybe then we can find out more about these dying nanites. Hey, if there they're the original nanite team they might have some valuable insight on how to deal with nanite crises," Noah exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah stinking ho ha I just want some real food. You think they have caviar here?"

"Bobo!"

Six and Van Kliess were piloting the transport keeping a close eye on Dr. GMR while Seven and Holiday monitored for corrupt nanites. The two EVO adults were on edge after being disabled so quickly. "Those corrupt nanites were nothing like the ones in Abysus. Those ones are highly unstable and have intense mutative properties that cause them to decay into slime, but I have never seen them affect active EVOs in such a manner. If possible I would love to study a sample in a controlled environment and see how it affects different types of EVOs."

"Do you really want something that tried to eat our nanites near you Anya my dear? I would pay a million dollars to keep those things away from me. I am just interested in finding out how machines can make an independent choice to hunt down active nanites and transform them into food to keep them from dying. That indicates that they are _alive_ in some sort of manner, but that is impossible," Van Kliess said.

"He's right. The nanites may have biological components and computer programming, but that doesn't equate to life. Those "dying" nanites were not alive just merely falling apart. We'll have to ask for clarification once we get there." 

"Agent Six I can tell you from personal experience when those nanites out there were attacking us _we_, both Luna and I, felt a chaotic, scared, yet real mind there. It was not something artificially constructed but something from real life mind. My aura abilities have been detecting it for a while now, but I chalked it up to confusion of being partially digital. I have no idea what is going on, but I fear the answers we seek will lead us into a world of chaos and heartbreak," Mage prophesized. After that warning everyone was a little down and quite.

Dr. GMR lead the group under several data streams, squeezed through a virtual construct and past a curtain of blue swirling nanites. The group emerged in a large hub of activity their jaws dropping at the sight before them. This was the epicenter of the entire Nanite Nexus. A large reality sphere shaped like a nanite hovered in the center. Several of the transmitter points were linked to the several data nodes streaming by. Smaller floating reality spheres were connected to the Central Nexus by umbilical constructs. The Nanites here were rotating around in complex patterns and were glowing a deep sapphire. The transports instruments were picking up a lot of chatter from inside the sphere and detecting several humans and other reality based people/items inside.

"It's amazing," Rex whispered in awe as they followed their guide to a small hatch at the bottom of the sphere. His heart was pounding as they docked and exited the transport into a decompression chamber. Dr. GMR pressed a series of commands on a keypad.

"Alright this chamber is going to scan us and get rid of any stray data codes that might have virus that could infect our digital body parts. Then it will run a decompile program through our nanites to ensure that they are working correctly. A blast of reality based atmosphere will enter the chamber and bind to us to make sure our real bodies are stable. Only then can we enter the Central Nexus,"

"I'm curious I know how all of us have nanites, but according to the security footage you sent us all scientist were sucked in before the explosion. How is it that the team is infected as well," Holiday asked as the process started. Her body shivered as it was bombarded by the scans and lasers.

"There was a second smaller implosion mere seconds after the explosion caused by the imbalance of energy trying to self correct. The imbalance was key in creating several areas in the Nexus and infected all of us with nanites as well before closing us off from reality. You'll get all the details later when you meet with Naniqueen and the rest of the team."

"Naniqueen? That's not a name I'm familiar with. Was that someone on the project I forgot?" Van Kliess asked.

"I'm not the best one to explain this Professor Van Kliess. I'm just a medical biologist who keeps us alive. We lost a lot of good people in first seven months when we got stuck here. It took us nearly nine to fully understand our situation and get use to existing as partially digital beings with and how to survive in this world. I promise all your questions will be answered. Ah the decompression cycle is over. You can remove your armor its safe here."

"We feel a lot safer if we still had it on. It's not that we don't trust you or your home it's just a risk we rather not take," Six said. He wasn't about to risk their health in this place. Besides he didn't have a clue how to take it off.

"Come on Six we've been wearing these stupid outfits for days. I'm going go nuts if I have to keep smelling my b.o. Can't we at least remove the helmets and get fresh air?" Noah pleaded.

"He's right it's not going to kill us to breath in their air. I think you're just being stubborn again," Circe mentioned.

"Six, they do have a point."

"Holiday it dangerous to remove our protection. Besides how do we retract these helmets?"

"Touch the broach and think helmet off. The broaches are bonded with the wearer's thoughts. Ah fresh air," Mage said as her helmet retracted. The other's followed her lead and soon they were all breathing in fresh air.

Six watched as Dr. GMR tapped a button on her suit. It started retracting from her body and entered a wrist watch like device. She now wore a pair of black slacks, silk blouse, lab coat and her locks tied in a nice neat braid. "I'll have our engineers look your transport. They should be able to fix it with the next two days. Keep up we have an appointment with the head of the Central Nexus."

"You're not much of a tour guide. What is this place here?" Seven asked as her implant scanned and picked up all the activity going on in the hanger.

"Bottom level is the hanger where we construct and fix our transports for our travel in the outside world along with storage. We do need to constant maintained on our reality sphere and expeditions to find out the status of the Nexus," Dr. GMR said as they entered an elevator. She pressed the top button and the doors closed. "Next level up is food storage and growth. We managed about three years ago to invent a process that allowed us to digitize plants in the surrounding reality spheres and reconstruct them here to grow our own food. Took another year to get animals we could raise here."

"The machine blueprints downloaded into Providence mainframe. That's what you use so why put the machine in reverse and escape this place?" Noah questioned.

"It's not that easy. Since the accident a majority of our bodies are digital only holding together with our real parts thanks to our nanites constantly compensating. The process can only be reversed in the real world if someone had a complete genetic profile of us. That was included in the data, but I'm not surprised you didn't receive it. Trying to break the barrier is hard. The last two levels we passed included experimental labs and storage. This floor is our medical and research where I work with my team, next we the computer and robotics lab. The next floor is affectionately known as the junk floor because all the other labs and disciplines were sent up there. The next floor is cafeteria and living quarters and the last floor is Central Hub where we communicate with Naniqueen, attempt to communicate with the real world, but mostly we attempt to work with the nanites in reality."

"Work with the real world nanites? Does that mean your monitoring everything with nanites in attempt to control the EVO situation? Is that even possible?" Van Kliess asked as they exited the elevator and started heading to Central Hub.

"You'll understand once Kacancu and Wilhelmina explain the situation fully, but I'm not in a position to make you understand what's going on properly." 

"Luiza your back! I see that your patrol was successful. Shaka what the heck happened to you old body. Did you lose weight? What is with the get up?" A middle age man with salt and pepper hair, thick glasses and a lanky frame in white coat was strolling over to them along with a petite Samoan woman in blue. Both were smiling and shaking Van Kliess hand who looked startled to see them. "What the matter Shaka? How can you not recognize us?"

"Um forgive me the explosion damaged my memory. It's not as clear as it once was. Perhaps you could explain who you are to me I mean all of us please?"

"Really? I thought person who attempted to rule the world would have all his faculties. I'm Dr. Dane Campbell, lead biochemist and toxicologist and this lovely creature is Kendra Tribudaro."

"I'm the world's leading expert in biotech design and safety. This whole project couldn't have happened without me!"

"Get off your wave Kendra without all 175 experts working as unit the nanite project never would have become an actuality. I seem to recall Shaka here helping you with design concept and figuring out how to input programming once the machines merged with biological structure. I was the one who figured that difficulty out."

"At least I wasn't roped into patrol duty because of mistake made in keeping our bodies stable with the recent crises mounting. I swear if this kid can't help Naniqueen with the…"

"Kendra enough! Rex doesn't need to know all that right now. I'm sorry Rex it is good to see you again. I can remember how much trouble you and Ron use to cause running around the labs pulling pranks and nearly causing my team to drop our chemicals. Sure it wasn't funny at the time, but now looking back it kinda is," Dr. Campbell said shushing Tribudaro up.

"Um I'm sorry I don't have any memories before I was found by Six here in Asia. It's nice to meet you again," Rex replied quietly. He wasn't use to way people were looking at him here. They had love in their eyes and were looking at him with joy and hope.

"See, its not going to be as bad as you thought. Your parents are going to love you. There's no reason to be scared Rex everything is going to be just fine. Rex? Rex?" Circe pestered only to see her boyfriend frozen in place. She snapped her fingers, but he still wasn't responding. Puzzled she looked to the room they had just entered and let out gasp.

Everyone was shocked by the sheer grandeur of the room they entered. It reminded them greatly of Ops, but bigger and better. Holographic displays covered the ceilings. A giant world map with blinking lights representing both EVOs and non EVOS could be seen. Tons of computer stations and monitors could be seen. In a clear sphere hovering over the main view screen was a concentration of nanites in the form of female face was watching all the scientists scurrying about shouting about crises. All eyes were on a trio, a small family who greatly resembled Rex was working on a computer consul discussing the latest updates. The three of them were exactly like the dream images.

Wilhelmina looked up from her work sensing someone looking at her. Lifting her eyes up she let out a gasp. Her husband and son also glanced up to see Rex standing there in front of them for the first time in six years. No one was sure who made the first move, but soon whole family was hugging and crying pulling Van Kliess as well. Questions were flying and Rex was doing his best to answer them.

"Rex oh my God I thought we never see you again. Let me look at you son. Oh my you've grown so much in the past six years. Have you been eating right?" Wilhelmina asked furiously.

"I knew you would find a way here son. You inherited more then my good looks!"

"Hey big bro you got any new tricks you want to share with me?"

"Whoa slow down this is a lot for me to take in. I'm seeing you for real for the first time since my amnesia occurred. I have so much I want to tell you. This is Noah my best friend and Bobo my sidekick. This is my girlfriend Circe. She's the love of my life and the,"

"Mother of your daughter we know Rex. There's a lot we know."

"I hate to interrupt this reunion big brother, but we have a lot of important matters to discuss."

"Van Kliess is right. Your message to Providence indicated the situation was rather urgent. After our initial encountered with those nanites out there I'm more inclined then ever to deal with the possible global threat out there. So please start talking," Six ordered.

You haven't changed one little bit Kaori, but your right there isn't time to dawdle. Luiza gather the heads of the departments for meeting in half an hour. Ron, why don't you go get some food for everyone? The rest of you follow us. You can update us on what's been going on since you entered our lovely new home," Kacancu said, as the group headed for a nearby conference room, but Mage grabbed Six's arm halting him for a second.

"Yes what is it?"

"Something is off about the family, everyone in this entire sphere. I can't put my fingers on it, but the auras are very agitated and sad almost fearful of something."

"Could it have to do with the nanites we encounter and the global threat?"

"That's part of the reason yes, but most of the fear and sorrow is aimed at Rex and that floating face of nanites up there. I have no clue what's going on, but I think we need to be super alert for danger."

"We need to restore contact with Providence as soon as possible. Keep your supernatural feelers on alert I'll inform the rest of the team. Rex and Van Kliess are not going to like this one bit."

Half an hour later the heads were assembled along with the lovely young Dakota whose name was ironically Dakota Farfield, Director of the Nanite project. She was a vibrant young lady who was very happy to see them. "It's good to see Shaka and Rex again. Rex was the number one troublemaker who made me almost rethink our isolation protocols. It's good to know that Providence has taught you a little bit of discipline young man."

"Hey I couldn't have been that bad!"

"Believe me you were a nightmare. Shaka, I'm so sorry about what are project did to you and your former fiancé. You have to recall that it wasn't our intention to do this to the world."

"Shaka and I have no regrets about being EVOs. It's been a real benefit. I would love to have a chance to compare our data on the nanites sometime. I think you be pleasantly surprised by what I have come up with in the last few years."

"Speaking of nanites I have a lot of questions about the nanite activity I'm picking up here. My sensor is picking up extremely high activity not only in concentration of nanites, but the increased volume of data exchange. It doesn't match anything in records."

"I'm not surprised there is a lot no one outside of the project knows about the nanites. The increase in volume can be accounted for because of how much data Naniqueen receives and sends out."

"There's that name again. Who is this Naniqueen you keep mentioning?" Noah asked.

"None of this, including the current crises can be understood by outsiders unless you fully comprehend the project before, during, after the self titled Nanite Event. Director there is no reason for security protocols and even if there was now is not the time for keeping secrets, especially if our new allies are going to help save the world and finally get us out of this freaking Twilight Zone," Dr. Campbell stated. The other heads nodded in agreement.

"So spill already geekheads. What's the big super secret about those nanites that made Bobo the glorious specimen he is today."

"Bobo shut up. I think were all interested in learning more the nanites. Not even Lord Van Kliess has perfect memory of what the project was about," Circe said.

"The Nanite Project was by far the greatest collaboration of scientific minds from around the world working on a humanitarian project for peace ever conceived. Our goal was to create a symbiosis relationship between man and machine that would link together the world. Think about it. Tiny little machines able bond with DNA, fix and repair any injury, improve the quality of life, even evolve us. No more war or conflict because the link would allow us understands each others hearts. We could find lost or kidnapped children and ensure native groups could continue to live there lives without interferences from outsiders. The dream wasn't just for humanity we hoped to improve nature restore ecosystems and save endangered flora and fauna. A Nobel Peace Prize was in our future. Our dream was to help the world with the best of intentions, but you know what they say. The road to hell is paved with good intentions," Director Farfield explained.

"Two hundred experts in a variety of fields ranging from biological studies to cybernetics to computer programming were brought to an isolate part of the world so we could work in total secrecy and in case something went wrong only our team would be killed as our backers liked to say. The first few years of the project were the hardest," Electra Hades, a mechanical engineer told them. "The nanites were not just invented overnight you know. It took all the different fields collaborating on models and equations nearly four years just to come up with a working computer model."

"Why? You're all genius how hard could it be to invent tiny little machines?" Rex asked puzzled.

"Rex, the nanites are the most complex biotechnology that exists. In order to even create _one_ working nanite you would need to design a device that could work with a biological structure, what materials would be safe in a human body, how to program the devices all sorts of factors," Seven chided him.

"Dr. Hansen is correct we would solve one problem such as creating a bioenergy source only to run into difficulties of how to construct a device that could incorporate DNA into their circuits without causing toxic buildup. Then once that was solved how we get the nanites to adapt to an individual's health needs. It soon became apparent advance computer and cybernetic programming wasn't enough. The nanites were programmed to analyze and fix DNA restoring it to archived normality, but that posed risks for individuals with genetic abnormalities. What if the nanites attempted to adapt and evolve a person too far? They need to be able to decide when enough was enough without a programmer standing by making the choice for them. They needed an AI."

"The nanites have an AI in their programming? That would explain a few things including the adaptability to algorithms designed to render them inert, but I just don't understand how it would be possible to create a large enough AI for each individual nanoscopic machine. It doesn't seem entirely possible," Holiday stated.

"Yeah not to mention any AI program created is going to go crazy. I don't know if you're aware of this, but twice a killer AI program named JGRS tried to kill everything infected with nanites so it could live alone on the Earth evolving."

"Yeah that program is a true femme fatal"

"You thing trying to send out a broadcast signal or taking control of was bad bro? She attempted once to access the Nexus and directly shut down everything from the inside. Luckily we managed to active her shut down protocols forcing her to go dormant before we sent her on a one way trip to a data decompiler all the way in Australia," Ron responded.

"How is it that you had knowledge of such protocols? Did you create that program? Was an attempted to eliminate the threat of the nanites after the accident?" Six asked.

"Six, stop accusing them of things you have no proof of and give them a chance to explain themselves. I know for a fact that AI was created before the nanite event and by two of the world's leading expert's in AI. Professor Jaeger Yoshimato and his wife Jun were recruited from the Tokyo University of Technology to work on the nanite project. Jaeger and his wife were brilliant forward thinkers when it came to developing AI's," Van Kliess said a soft small was on his face as he remembered lively debates between the couple.

"The Yoshimato, rest their souls, were invaluable when it came to helping solving the dilemma between programming and biological adaptation. JGRS was their first AI, their baby really. She was created by scanning their brainwave patterns and merging them with others to create a unique mind that was downloaded into an artificial brain with bionerual networks and synaptic function. The brain was then placed inside a female humanoid construct. She was supposed to help with the development of the AI for the nanites, to be like a big sister to eventual matrix, but she grew jealous and arrogant. We lost two cyberneticist and computer technician in her initial attempt to destroy the nanites. The worst part was she injured Jun by shooting her with a laser before Jaeger managed to shut her down with the protocols we mentioned. Jun became paralyzed from the waist down as a result. It was bad enough they thought they had to kill their "daughter" now she may never walk again unless they finished the project allowing the nanites to repair the damage," Dr. Parvati Romna, a cybernetics'/robotics expert explained sadly.

"After that much trouble an AI caused why were you willing to continue onward? Surely there were other options for Mrs. Yoshimato," Mage questioned.

"Jun could live her life without the use of her legs, but the guilt of what had happened spurred us forward in attempt to make amends to those who died. Eventually the Yoshimatos came up with the idea of giving a small portion of the AI to a nanite and then established a hive mentality where by combining a host nanite network together through a link would created an ethically and morally AI that would work with the host to decide what to do. It worked wonders and soon we able to construct our first batch of nanites. It was painstaking process that took near a long time to do. When it was done we were all set to start running computer mockups before injecting a single nanite into plant. The goal was to work up from plants to animals, and finally a human host. It was the only way to ensure safety and ensure that we could handle any unusual side effects."

"But then Rex's accident happened forcing you to speed up your human trials huh?" Noah said.

"Rex, you have to understand we never meant for you to become an EVO. The explosion of the biotank's coolant was a total random accident. We tried everything son to help you before we resorted to using the nanites. Your mother was totally against it," Kacancu told his son who was quite as he listened.

"Its not that I didn't want to save your life Rex, but there was no guarantee that you would live even if we managed to successfully bond you to the nanites. There were so many unknowns, but seeing you lying there on the gurney half you face burned off, your arms and right leg being eaten way and knowing your internal injuries were much worse I gave into my fears and let them do this to you. Please forgive us," Wilhelmina pleaded tears rolling down her face.

Rex reached out and grabbed both his parents' hands squeezing them gently. They looked at him in confusion not understanding why he wasn't upset. When he had first awoken after the accident he was happy until he freaked out about the changes and then he didn't speak to them for a month, even when they were performing tests on him. "I have no real memory of what happened, but I understand why you did it. Sure being an EVO has not been easy or having memory loss, but it doesn't matter now. We're together again and I'm happy to have you as my parents even if afterwards I was treated like a lab rat for awhile."

"Rex, when the nanites started evolving your body to point you could talk to machines and create biomechanical weapons we had to run tests to understand if this was a unique situation or if this would happen to everyone. We learned a lot by studying you. We were amazed by the level of control you had. You're abilities were nothing short of astonishing. Our friend Rylander saw what the nanites were capable of with basic programming, but was concerned what would happen if they ever become corrupted or infected. That's why he was working on a master control nanite to be injected along with a network. The master control would be able to restart both biological systems as well as the nanites incase of system failure or near death experience. Once activate it would run a diagnostic program that would isolate and clean up any infected parts restoring order with new commands. It would even be able to download new ones from an outside source. Rylander was working on it when the Event occurred, but he must have finished it because you have the nanite in your body," Kacancu told him.

"Is that what he injected me with? By why just me and what was the reason?" Rex demanded.

"We don't know for certain son."

"Tell us about the Nanite Event and how you ended up existing inside the Nanite Nexus and what you have been doing for the past six years. Why do you need our help now?" Six prompted getting them back on track. Dakota took up the tale clenching her digital hands in anger.

"The Nanite Event never would have occurred if our board of directors and financial backers hadn't forced us to replicate our success with Rex in such a short amount of time. We were still trying to understand the process and learn more about the nanites ability to manipulate the DNA strands in different life forms. By forcing us to take shortcuts and cutting back on our resources we ended up creating a situation that harmed the world. The implosion pulled most of us in damaging us as the explosion rocketed about before the resulting energies digitized us. As you are aware a rare mathematical probability caused us to create a world held together by every network in the world and pieces of it. Of the 150 pulled in only about 85 remain most dying as result of their bodies being incompatible with being digitized. If it wasn't for Naniqueen creating the Central Nexus and helping us survive all us would have perished in the void."

"Who's this Naniqueen you keep mentioning? Bobo don't see anyone looking like a royalty here."

"Then perhaps you should look up Mr. Haha because if it wasn't for my children you wouldn't be able to talk," the hovering face said. The whole team looked up at the nanite created female face who smiled at them. "My name is Naniqueen and I'm the ruler of the nanites."

"You have to be kidding me! The nanites can't have a queen! They're not alive!" Rex said.

"But _she is_ Rex, all the nanites are alive. I've been sensing a sort of hive mentality since we entered the Nexus and now I'm certain of it. The resulting energies responsible for establishing this Nexus also gave real life to the AI programming of the nanites," Mage responded.

"But they don't meet the requirements for life! Their machines not biological constructs, they don't reproduce or think and it's just not possible," Holiday said flabbergasted.

"I beg to differ Dr. Holiday. The nanites can replicate themselves; they think and make choices not just with their programming, but with the AI. They suffer when exposed to the elements. They are self aware of what they can and can not do, they are intelligent enough to communicate and fix things, and obviously have developed consciences. My guess is that the nanites inside everyone are like worker bees performing tasks, the drones use the link between active nanites to bring back data to the queen here who is obviously trying to understand the world around her. In short they are alive."

"The young manna user is correct. Our existence came into being during the Nanite Event. Even for creatures such as us it if difficult to understand the world around us with billions and billions of minds linked together. We created this place for the scientist to help my children and I understand what was going on. Many of my children attempt to learn by fulfilling our original programming hoping that once we do the symbiosis we desire will happen."

"So EVOs aren't just created when the nanites activate in attempt to finish what they started. You're linked to our bodies being able to see and hear learning. Every EVO helps you get closer to fulfilling your dream of true symbiosis. What about incurables?" Seven questioned.

"Naniqueen is linked to every nanite worker. When their programming goes active she learns more and so do we. Rex has the first batch of nanites inside along with thanks to you two all the other batches making him the perfect model for true symbiosis. His ability to cure comes with sharing that perfect balance with ones that aren't stuck in repeating loop. When that happens the loop becomes toxic and the Naniqueen has to break off her connection or risk dying. Those are stuck as incurables. For the past six years we've been attempting to work from the inside fixing the mess and we've had some success, but now a crises is nearing. One that could end all life as we know it. We tried fixing the problem from inside, but in the end we realized that Rex was the only one who could help. So we turned to his parents hoping to use the biological link and other talents to communicate with him," Dr. GMR explained.

What does that mean?"

"Rex you are an idiot you know that?"

"Hey that was uncalled for Circe!"

"Rex, remember how in the Trial of Spirit you saw your mom? Her manna levels are pretty high. You inherited your knack from her. Judging by the dreams you had and the way your parents talked through your body I'm guessing she has a rare affinity for Spirit. Its not one of the elements, but rather a metaphysical ability. Usually only dream seers or prophets have that," Mage explained.

"Your young friend is correct Rex. In my family the gift skips generations from time to time. My grandmother was a dream seer, but neither you nor Ron exhibited signs of the gift so I thought it skipped you. I didn't realize until the incident with your daughter that you inherited enough manna to be a Guardian. Anyways I tried using my talent to speak to you in dreams, but you didn't understand so I tried using my talents when you were awake. Its hard doing anything here whether its manipulating data streams to send information or using manna to talk to someone because of the phase, size, and digital differences. With your father's help we finally managed to get our message out."

"Yeah good thing bro because I thought Mom was going to kill herself if she kept trying."

"So what do you need my help with exactly?"

"The nanites have been increasingly active in attempt to fulfill their objective and evolve, but the constant amount of failures has amount in a build up of data corruption causing triggering a failsafe programming. This program was designed to shut down the nanites in event someone stole our work. With the nanites now alive the buildup is causing the corrupt nanites to die killing their living host and leaving behind a sludge that would wipe out anything in its pass. If the full onslaught of the failsafe is triggered every living nanite will die causing everything on the planet to slowly die as well until there is nothing alive on Earth. You're the only one who can interface with the nanites and stop this from happening by completing their programming for them. If you don't everyone will die,' his father explained surprising everyone.


	7. The Sacrifice

"Whoa whoa wait just a minute please. This is a lot to absorb at once. I can barely wrap my mind around the fact that the nanites are alive and now you're saying there dying and I'm the only one who can save the world?" 

"I know that it is a lot for you to take in Rex, but it is the truth," Wilhelmina told her son. "As the original host you are the only person on the entire planet with fully programmed nanites that are function properly. The bonus that you're able to integrate later batches of nanites into your network and adapt them to your specific needs indicates how much control you have over your own nanite network."

"Yeah self control is one of Rex's real strong suits," Noah muttered.

"I assume that your confirmed the mass build up to the fail safe correct?" Van Kliess asked. Dakota nodded and slid a folder to him containing all their data. He looked it over with a critical eye sharing the findings with the rest of the group. Seven and Holiday confirmed that the findings support their claims of a massive failsafe activation was the equivalent of dropping an A bomb on the whole world. "What methods did you use to prevent the failsafe from activating before attempting to contact Rex because according to these results you have known about this crisis for almost two months now? Right around the time the increase in incurables started happening."

"Our attempts to circumvent the entire crises have been met with failure after failure. We attacked this problem from both a mechanical and biological standpoint. Luiza attempt to use her medical expertise to inoculate the biosphere energy hoping that would mix with the circuitry erasing the corruption, but it didn't work nor did use chemically based solutions to bind and dissolve the bad parts. We even tried micro repair bots hoping to alter the nanite structure would do something, but it didn't."

"All attempts to fix the programming or bypassing the corruption build up and rebooting has been met with failure. We can affect a lot here in the Nexus and connect to everything on the planet, but we have limits of how much we can affect and how fast. We ran every scenario including asking Naniqueen to use her influence to force all the nanites into latent mode in a last ditch attempt to cleanse them and reinstate the proper programming, but that plan was met with too many variables to consider."

"What factors are we talking about exactly? That sounds like the best way to avoid the fail safe from fully activating and would even allow you cure the incurables with the reboot," Holiday pointed out.

"Perhaps or it could kill us my dear Dr. Holiday. My children and I are alive thanks to what happened. The bioenergy is like our organs, the DNA bonding our food, the circuitry and shells are blood and body, the programming our instincts and electrical impulses coupled with out intelligence and life essence. We feel, see, hear, sense everything through our bond and we want to know more which is why we do what we do. To force into latent mode we lose so much of what we have learned, perhaps even perish by the shock. I tried talking to my children asking us manually to erase what has harmed us, but taking away our programming and data would leave us in a coma state not to mention how can we reach the ones who are trapped in the incurable EVOs unable to hear our call? My children and I would gladly die to save those who gave us life and meaning, but it would a Pyrrhic victory if we didn't save everyone and all of us died for nothing," Naniqueen explained, displaying on the screen what she meant.

"You've exhausted every other option to prevent this from coming to pass haven't you? So you took a big gamble hoping that you be able to send a message to Rex and believing we recreate the power source to enter this realm. What were you going to do if your plan didn't succeed?" Seven wanted to know.

"Naniqueen was ready to make the sacrifice if we couldn't bring him here and the rest of us would have spent every waking moment out there attempting to prevent the inevitable from happening. Not much of a solution, but we don't have to worry about that now do we? Rex is here and can help us!" Electra pointed out happily.

"Hold on a second you haven't quite explained what you want Rex to do exactly. Is it safe for him? What are the dangers involved with him healing the nanites?" Circe butted in, concern for her lover mounting. She had suspected that whatever they had planned for him wouldn't pleasant.

"Rex is the original host of the nanites, a blueprint of how to create a perfect symbiosis bond. With his ability to cure EVOs he can apply the same basic principle to the nanites themselves healing them of the decay and corruption and then reboot them restoring the original program. Follow us there's something you need to see," Director Farfield said. The group followed her out of the conference room and back into Ops. On a raised dais in the front of the room was a two piece pod complete with a keypad on the outside and a metal body gurney inside that had metallic straps. There was a thin white band with blinking lights resting near the head of the gurney. Wires could be seen connecting the pod to the computers which in turn were linked with the ports to the data streams and reality spheres.

Bobo let out a whistle and cackled. "That thing resembles an updated version of the Iron Maiden. You're going to stuff the kid in there and zap him?"

"Bobo!"

"It's not a torture chamber Bobo, its an interface module that allows a person to bond directly with Naniqueen and together affect the entire nanite network, even ones that have been cut off from the rest. We adapted the module to work with specific individuals needs for the best results. I was in this chamber attempting to boost my nanite link so I could connect with Rex."

"Its impressive I can tell that you were inspired by pods designs in comics, but were able to use data from reading about gestalts in Star Trek books. I do the same thing when I invent, but I'm curious about why you need a brain inhibiter. Surely you were able to overcome the risk of brain damage when connecting directly to vast computer intelligence of Naniqueen," Seven commented her implants scanning the entire module committing it to her memory. There were several individual pieces she wanted to adapt to her own work. She frowned for a second as she notice the power regulator for the device seem to have its shunt removed, but dismissed it as a repair in progress.

"Connecting directly with me is a dangerous because human minds are not one hundred percent compatible with my mind. To find oneself connected directly with every living thing on the planet and to over a billion different minds can cause insanity and destroy higher brain function. To protect the individuals higher brain function the inhibitor acts as a buffer between the information inputs."

"So you want me to um lay in there and active all my nanites linking with Naniqueen and basically tell the network to cancel the failsafe along with curing and reprogramming them all at once?"

"In theory it should work Rex. All you have to is apply the same technique you use to cure EVOs directly the nanites. Because you have all four sets of nanites inside you have a better chance of affecting multiple networks once you're connected. First cure them, then using your own nanites as guide show them how their supposed to act and respond. If this works you could cure incurables directly maybe even every EVO on the planet and make is so it never happens again," Holiday said in amazement.

"Some of us like being EVOs Quintessa incase you forgotten. The nanites have the right to choose their own path in their quest to live and learn the same should apply to EVOs," Van Kliess huffily remarked.

"Easy brother no one will lose their EVO status if they don't want to. Rex and Naniqueen will be able brush the conscience of everyone and find out what they want. Besides EVOs still will occur as it is the intent of the project to evolve humans even after program is restored. Providence will change from an agency that cures, captures, or (shudders) kill EVOs to a monitoring and policing force."

"How long until the chamber is calibrated for Rex's individual needs or until complete failsafe activation?" Six demanded. The science behind it was sound at least to his limit knowledge, but he was still concerned about putting Rex in danger for a plan that had an equal chance of failure as success. He didn't know what it was, but his ninja senses were telling him something was up, but what he didn't have a clue.

"Complete failsafe activation will be in three days. During that time the corrupt and dying nanites will continue to assault the Central Nexus in attempt to graft healthy nanites to them in a last ditch attempt to save themselves. We can't allow that! It will take at least a day and half to recalibrate the module for Rex. Less if Shaka and Anya would consent to helping us. Dr. Holiday could assist Luiza in restoring us to pure reality form once we get the DNA samples from Providence. You truly think you can restore us?"

"No problem Wilhelmina. I promise you'll be able to breathe real air soon. Six, why don't you go and see if communications has been restored with Providence?"

"Good idea doctor. I'll get right to it. Noah, Bobo I order you to get some rest before assisting the citizens here in preparation for evacuation. Rex, you should spend some time with your family and so should Circe. Mage, would you come with me? Your abilities could come in handy if we have trouble connecting with Providence. I'll join you all shortly."

So everyone went their separate ways. Six and Mage returned to the hanger to check on the repair to the transport. The mechanics had finished their work fixing the hole in the hull and repairing the communication array. Six established communication with Providence secretly relieved to see White Knight and Ulani again. In the background he could hear a crying and screaming Eilonwy giving Bailey, his partner and Jones trouble.

"Agent Six it's good to see you again. We feared that you had been killed. Can you give us an update of the situation? Have you made contact with the Central Nexus? What have you learned about the nanites dying?"

"We were saved from death by a member of the original nanite team, a Dr. Luiza GMR who proceeded to take us to the Central Nexus. Upon arriving we were escorted to Ops were Rex was reunited with his family. After that they told us an amazing story, the details which I recorded. I'm sending you a copy of the meeting, but what is important to note here are that the nanites gained life in the explosion/implosion that scattered them across the globe."

"That's preposterous there machines not living creatures!"

"White Knight you might want to take a look at this footage. It's pretty detailed," Ulani commented. "I may not be a scientist, but I trust what my eyes are seeing."

White Knight watched the footage of the conference. He was very angry at the thought that the nanites were alive and deliberately doing things to harm life to learn and grow. He wanted to leave them to their fate to die, but they were bonded to everything on the planet save him so cooler heads would have to prevail. He took note of what the scientists had done to solve the problem and what they were attempting to do. "Is their idea going to work? Can you or Holiday confirm there is no risk to our weapon or the rest of the world?"

"Holiday has looked over their data and is satisfied by their findings. At the moment Van Kliess and Anya are prepping the module along with the nanite team in order to ensure Rex's safety. Holiday is working in the lab with Dr. GMR in preparation for our return. She needs pure genetic samples of all members of the nanite team to help restore them once Rex has done his thing. Director Fairfield has informed me that all their genetic profiles were kept on hand for security purposes and should still be intact somewhere in the bottom of Van Kliess castle. If you could scan them into the Nexus and transmitted the data to this inbox Holiday should be able to use the info to undo the digitizing."

"Of course I'll contact Abysus and get someone to bring the samples here as soon as possible. We can't just leave those poor people in the Central Nexus not after six years," Ulani replied already getting on to that.

"I know that look Six. Something is bothering you. What is would you please keep that child quite?" White demanded as Eilonwy's protest reached new levels. The screen turned and they could see a struggling little infant in Jones' arms with the other two attempting to placate her with toys, but she wasn't interested. "Mama! Dada! Mama! Dada!"

"Sir we're highly trained soldiers taught how to deal with EVOs not babies!" Jones protested.

"Are you saying you can't calm down an eight and half month old baby? What kind of female are you?"

"Sir just because two of us are women doesn't mean w instinctively know how to deal with kids!"

"Here give me the child. Shu shu little icon. Your parents will be back in a day or two. Then you're going to meet your grandma and grandpa not to mention you can play tricks on your uncle. See everything is alright yes it is. She needs a nap why don't you go put in her bed and keep an eye on her? Really I'm surprised more people haven't babysat before."

"Now that the child has been dealt with would you be so kind to share your suspicions with us about the nanite team?"

"It's not as much as suspicion, but a feeling. They were very honest about their feelings and the data supports what they're saying. After experiencing the dying nanites and meeting Naniqueen I believe what they are saying about healing them before the whole planet dies."

"Yet?"

"Yet their auras were conflicted and darkened. I am not an empath like Bevin, but I can sense they are being sincere. Still their eyes betray that they are hiding something of importance that is tied to this mission. Whatever it is I can be certain it's not harmful to the world, but I fear the truth will hurt all of us," Mage said.

"Can you cast a spell or something to force them to reveal their secret?"

"No sir the Nexus has limited amount of manna making it difficult to perform any but the basic spells. I can see now why Wilhelmina needed a boost to her network in order to keep in touch with Rex. I will cast a heart bind spell to link everyone here together. It's not powerful enough to force a confession, but it will allow me to keep track of their emotional state and physical health. That's all I can do for now."

"Keep an eye on them and if they show the slightest sign of betray you know what to do. Keep us informed. We'll contact you once we've sent the genetic samples. I don't have to tell you how important that you succeed with your mission. Captain Callan forces along with our allies are being stretched to their breaking point dealing with EVO activity. Several places besides Abysus have experience decay. I wish you luck partner."

"He must be very frightened if he referred to me as his partner."

"Fear is what I sense all over. Neither Luna nor I have dealt with something of this magnitude before. We fear for everyone as well. I need to go cast my spell. Agent Six, I'm sure whatever it is they're hiding it will all work out."

At the moment Rex was having dinner with his family and regaling them with tales of his bravery while Circe interjected with her own two sense. As they munched on meatloaf and mashed potatoes with corn on the cob and milk the Van Kliess's told stories about when Rex was little embarrassing him greatly. Still it brought smiles to his parents' faces as they watched him and Circe interact and talk about their child. It reminded them so much of themselves when they were young.

Ron was laughing his head off. "I can't believe my big brother was stuck in a doll house being a toy for someone. Serves you right for all the times you refuse to share your toys with me."

"Hey it wasn't funny in the least bit when that EVO girl swallowed me up because Breach wanted me to be her new best friend! It was nasty in there."

"Still it was quite clever to slice your way out. Using your brain seems to be a last resort for you. I distinctly remember it took getting pounded into the ground a dozens time before you realized you could use the East River to stop Van Kliess's rampage," Circe remarked playfully.

"I still can't believe all the trouble Shaka caused. I want to wring his neck for all the attempts on your life! He knew the truth and he still tried to eat your nanites! I'm going to kill him!"

"Dad's it okay really Uncle wasn't in full control of his facilities at the time. I've forgiven him for all the stuff he put me through. Besides it was fun kicking his butt! I have to admit though without everything he put me through I wouldn't be as strong as I am or have met my girlfriend."

"Exactly how long have you been a couple? Why haven't you married her yet Rexy? Its obvious you love her and if you have a child together you should get married."

"Well officially we met almost two years ago next week. I have a big surprise planned for Circe I know that she'll love."

"You're going to love my surprise as well. As for marriage I'm not ready for that just yet and White Knight forbade it anyways. I'm going to be seventeen in a three months and I would love to wait until I'm twenty one to get married if possible. For Eilonwy's sake I would get married sooner if the opportunity arose."

"I see I'm glad Rex met such a sensible strong willed girl to keep him in check. He is quite the handful. Oh there's no reason to be embarrassed Rexy its true. Circe would you join me in the kitchen for a few minutes? I want to talk to you about some girl things."

"Sure Mrs. Van Kliess."

"Please call me Willa it sounds more youthful," Wilhelmina told her as the two ladies entered the kitchen. With a flick of her wrist a sound proof barrier appeared. "Sorry I just know that even with Kacancu and Ron keeping Rex occupied he's still going to try and eavesdrop. It just his nature as child he was always getting into everything. At least he used to be that way. It's been six years since I've seen him. I love the kind of person he's grown into. I just wish I had been there."

"You were trust me. Even if Rex couldn't see or hear you still affect him in a lot of ways. No way Providence is completely responsible for creating a person as generous and selfless as him without your parenting."

"Thank you Circe I appreciate that. I wanted to talk to you about your magic. It appears that you've become quite gifted with your legacy. I must admit I never thought I see another magic user like myself."

"I'm not that good of user I'm still learning."

"Nonsense, you're a strong High Priestess. A few more years and you'll be adept as any manna user. I know my knowledge is limited, but I would be honored to teach you what I know. I mean once were all back in the real world."

"I would love that! I'm sure Eilonwy would like that too!"

Back in the dining room Kacancu was saddened by the fact for the past six years Rex hadn't received a real education. Even knowing the chances of being restored to full reality were slim Ron was still schooled and was a math whiz along with being a great swimmer. Any university would be happy to have him as a student, but unless Rex improved his grades he never get in. Still as he explained this to Rex who promised to work harder a part of him knew that it wouldn't matter.

Back in Ops Van Kliess and Anya were helping with the calibrations on the module with some of the workers while Naniqueen hovered above supervising and giving reports about the health of her people. Van Kliess found that he was enjoying his chats with the robotic queen and that her insights about his unstable nanites would help him manage the problem better. "I still don't quite understand how you are a queen of the nanite network if it takes a grouping of your children to create a decent amount of intelligence."

"As stated before each individual nanite has life and reacts like either a drone bringing me information or a worker changing and adapting a host to expand our knowledge. When all of the nanites in a host work as one becoming an organized mini hive that responds to me. Your nanites are unstable which makes talking to them difficult."

"But not impossible. So what are they saying now?"

"That they are scared and fearful. They hate digesting their brothers and sisters to survive, but love what kind of person you are. You may have done bad things, but you have redeemed yourself. For example right now you're ensuring that everything here in the Central Nexus will continue to run and operate smoothly after the nanite team leaves. It will not be easy running this place with only a fraction of myself, but part of me needs to stay here in order to make sure the Nexus lives on."

"I'm not quite following you on this one. Why keep the Nexus running and how come only a fraction of you is staying."

"The Nanite Nexus has existed since the Nanite Event. The combination of implosion/explosion that gave us life created imbalance in space and time that corrected itself once the Nexus was created. They linked together and depended on one another for survival. Should the Nexus fall apart to the failsafe destroying us or other situations arise then suffering will ensure. Part of me must leave to help solve these problems in the real world in case something goes wrong. Besides here in this world we are able to dream, think and share. It is very important this world stay alive. When we leave part of me will remain to run this place and make sure the balance is kept."

"After you and Rex managed to save us all. I'm sure his mind will be something to puzzle over for decades after this crisis has passed."

"I will of course remember our hero."

Van Kliess was puzzled by her tone, but was prevented from further inquiry when Anya came over to him with a perplexed look on her face. "What is my dear? Are you having trouble with calibrating the machine for Rex?"

"No that's going fine especially after I imputed an update file on his biometrics. There's something odd about that machine that I can't quite put my finger on. I was examining the inhibitor and tweaking it a bit for Rex's mind because his brain is still developing at moment and it need to compensate for that. I notice tiny needles on the back. They say there to inject leads into his skin to help better monitor the brain's function, but I have doubts I just can't prove any of it."

"I know these people and we both know my family. They would never do anything to harm Rex. They love him to much."

"They've been digitized and stranded here for nearly six years Shaka. I'm wondering if that's had an unforeseen effect on them. I know keep my eyes and ears open."

It was a similar situation for Holiday a couple hours later when her sister finally sent the samples. Working together they created a serum that would allow their genetic profiles to heal and restore their digitize parts. Now with their profiles on hand they could be restore to full flesh and blood once they left, but Holiday had to wonder what the hurry was with administering the serum and why Dr. GMR was avoiding her questions about helping Rex recover after he bonded with Naniqueen. Similarly Bobo and Noah found themselves asking why the fleet of ships besides being equipped with supplies and weapons would also be containing device to hold most of Naniqueen's intelligence and no facilities to help Rex afterwards. Six continued his investigations and Mage was listening to everyone's heart, but nothing was coming through. It wasn't until the attack by the corrupt and dying nanites a day later that the terrible secret they had been keeping came out.

Rex and the entire group were in Ops. Rex was donating a sample of his nanites so the machine could be fine tuned for him when alarms started blaring and the entire sphere started shaking. The outside view was suddenly skewed by the sight of hundreds if not thousand of dying nanites were attempting to force themselves into the sphere to devour the nanites inside humans.

"Report! How they managed to get pass our jammers!" Director Farfield demanded as the world around her started spinning. Her staff was running around securing equipment and running scans trying solve the problem. As another tremor hit the sphere it knocked loose some of they dying nanites showing a battle was raging outside between the healthy and sick one. "I need answers people!"

"The corrupt nanites sacrificed scores of themselves to punch a hole in the jamming field. They wedged the bodies of their dead comrades to keep the hole open!" Dr. Tribudaro shouted from her station. "Attempts to clear away the nanites are being deterred thanks to the flood of dying ones getting through."

"Engineering and mechanics reports the hanger is being attacked! They managed to finish loading the convoy before attack, but now biological and polarity weapons are not working! They're adapting!" Electra shouted.

"This is Dr. GMR! I'm evacuating the populace to the hanger for escape, but ah there coming through the walls. Naniqueen do something!"

"I'm trying, but I can't reach their minds their too far gone! I'm sending reinforcements to close the hole, but I can't get them off the sphere!"

"If we don't get rid of them the Central Nexus will collapse. They're already eating the umbilicals and nodes!" Dr. Campbell shouted. His worst fears came true when some of the sphere was eaten away and the dying nanites started dropping towards them. He covered his face in a futile attempt to protect himself. He heard a crack and opened his eyes and saw a strange sight. Mage's armor was glowing and she had just destroyed a dozen dying nanites with one kick.

"Activate the animal abilities of your armor by touching the broach! Use that to force back the nanites! Circe! Wilhelmina I need your help to cast a protection spell to force them away!"

"You heard the lady get them out of my sphere now!" Director Farfield shouted, grabbing a polarity gun from a drawer and firing. The rest of the group responded with precision and power. Noah moved gracefully almost like liquid between the nanites using his sticks to tear them open. Bobo own natural strength and ingenuity was increased as he jury rigged a laser trap while beside him Seven was moving all over the place with great agility deactivating nanites with her implants. Van Kliess and Six tore through with the deadliness of their animals and Holiday used her superior senses to take down a bunch. Rex and Circe worked together with their powers and animal traits to force the rest of the sphere webbing the hole up. She then grabbed hands with Mage and Wilhelmina using their combined powers to force the nanites away, but it was only temporarily.

"Naniqueen that attack came out of nowhere, but it was a sign of desperation. How much has our time table moved up because of that stunt?"

"Instead of two more days we have a little more then an hour. Rex needs to bond with me now."

"Okay just get that module ready and I'll hey Six what are you doing? Leave my family alone!" Rex shouted when Six pressed a katanas to the throats of his parents.

"Sorry Rex, sorry Kacancu and Wilhelmina, but I can't let Rex enter the module. Not until you tell us the whole truth about what's really going on here," Six said ignoring the protests of the others. "Mage has been sensing a deep secret from all of you and all of us have seen something strange. We deserved the truth. Rex deserves the truth."

"We don't have time for this Agent Six! Look outside! The Nanite Nexus is falling apart, ugh ah eh the pain were feeling is the buildup of data forcing the nanites into a corner that's activating the entirety failsafe!" Director Farfield shouted. All around them everyone was beginning to feel the effects of having the nanites dying inside them. Six's earpiece chirped and squawked so loud they all heard what was being said.

"Six what in the name of Heaven and Hell is going on! The entire world has gone nuts! I've got reports from Abysus that it's dissolving into sludge, rapid EVO mutations from all over, people are dying! I don't know how long our agents can combat the effects and keep the system operating. If you got a way to solve this then do it no matter what the cost!"

"You heard your boss the world is dying and we need Rex to save it! Let them go so we can begin the process and get out of here before this place collapses on itself!" Dr. Tribudaro shouted before coughing up blood, but Six refused to give in. Now everyone in the group was suspicious because they remembered the strange things they had seen and heard. Rex was looking at his family faces and they were hanging in shame. As much as he wanted to save the world he needed the truth more.

"Please tell me the truth. I need to know." 

"You'll hate us! I can't live knowing that you'll hate us forever!" Wilhelmina cried. Tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking like a leaf. Ron and Kacancu grabbed her hands squeezing them giving her supports.

"He needs to know, they all do. Rex, please believe us when we say we tried every method imaginable to avoid this fate. The nanites were dying because of the failsafe program and nothing we did worked. Several people gave their lives in an attempt to work with Naniqueen to save the Nexus and the world, but they couldn't interact with all the nanites unlike you. They managed to fix a few, but the vast majorities were unaffected. Your mother nearly died attempting to stop this because that's when we realize there was only one way stop this."

"The bonding process will allow your nanites to cure and reprogram all the nanites, even helping Naniqueen's repair the damage to Nanite Nexus which in turn will fix the real world. After that's done the part of Naniqueen that remains here will run Central Nexus along with some constructs we created while the majority of her escapes to the real world. She told you how part of her must exist to keep the Nexus alive, but if we don't have a back up in case something goes wrong or have in real world able to actively help after the process then the world would be in danger again," Ron said still looking down.

"I understand ugh why you need Naniqueen in the real world to help with the monitoring process, but Rex will be there to cure anyone who's negatively affected."

"No, no he won't Circe. The window of opportunity to affect the nanites and stop this horrible plague from taking all life is the cost one life. The nanites, even when they are dying, adapt too quickly attempts to help them. In order for Rex and Naniqueen to save everyone in a window of only three minutes and thirty seconds Rex has to give it everything he has. That means full power directly stimulating his brain so he can affect the network without any protection. Do you understand Rex? As soon as you finish your task your brain will give out along with your entire body. You'll DIE and that is the truth we so desperately didn't want to say!" Wilhelmina sobbed shocking the group.

"Oh my I didn't see that coming," Bobo hooted softly.

"Ditto for me," Noah whispered softly. He glanced at Rex who was standing there sort of cationic while Circe tried to snap him out of it.

"You were willing to sacrifice your child without telling him? What kind of parents are you! No way are we going to allow you to do this! There must another way to stop this. Something you haven't thought of. I'm sure if we put our heads together," Holiday was saying before she was interrupted by Electra.

"Do you think we came up with this idea lightly? Didn't you hear them? We tried everything and nothing worked. Time is running out and you're standing there debating us when we only have fifty minutes to escape this place and save the world! My God in life sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to survive."

"Not at the expense of someone's life. Did you think that once the process started that we were going to allow it to continue?"

"Agent Six enough ugh can't you ugh feel it? Their pain is emanating off them in waves. The guilt of knowing this and surviving while Rex dies is killing them quicker than the nanites. They hid the truth for the greater good," Mage whispered.

"Greater good do you know how many times I said that to justify my endeavors to take over the world. I'm appalled by your actions big brother. I can't believe you would do this to your son! I should kill you and take Rex from here, but I think I understand your reasons for doing this. Ugh and there doesn't seem to be another option."

"As wise person once said, "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or even the one." As much as I hate this and love Rex we have no other options. Rex has to do this."

"I don't care about stupid Star Trek quotes or saving the world! I'm not losing my boyfriend!" Circe ranted before Rex silenced her.

"How long do you need to escape from Central Nexus and get to the exit point? How long will it take for the module to power up enough for me to do what needs to be done?"

"Rex you can't be"

"Circe be quite. How long?" 

"It will take at least twenty five to thirty minutes at top speeds to reach the exit point. We can only pray that the Providence team has the strength operate the Gateway to pull us out before we're eaten or data nodes collapse on us. It will take a little less then that for you to power up the machine and begin the bonding process. You'll be cutting it close, but you should be able save everyone in just the nick of time," Director Farfield.

"Alright I want everyone to get out of here and start heading for the exit point. Mage protect the convoy from harm by wrapping your protection spell around the ships. Holiday do you best to keep everyone alive while Six make sure Providence is ready for you. Noah I need you and Bobo to man the weapons. With everything falling apart out there you have to keep everyone safe. Seven, Uncle get everyone there safe. Circe, I want you to stay with my family and make sure they get to the real world. Take care of them for me. Noah will help you."

"Rex no please there ugh ah has to be another way. You can't do this Rex! Think about us our daughter how much we love you. Don't be so reckless to throw your life away like this!" 

"Circe I _am_ thinking about family!" Rex told her hugging her close and slipping something into her pocket. "What kind of future will our daughter have if I don't do this? None she'll be dead along with the planet. I want her to live in the world we envisioned. A safe place for all the EVOs now and are to come, to grow up learning magic, pulling pranks on White and just having a good time with the people I love who are there to ensure she's safe. I'm not being reckless I'm being the selfless, responsible, caring person you know. I love you Circe, but this is something I have to do." He turned to face his family and said. "I don't hate you I can't. I love you so much even though I don't remember up here I remember in here. Six years ago you risked everything to give me a chance at life. I've had a crazy, but happy six years and now I can return the favor by giving back my life to save yours."

"Oh Rex!" Wilhelmina cried and soon the little family was hugging and crying, but soon everyone broke apart and started evacuating. His group was the last ones to leave. He told each of them how much they meant to him and to take care of each other. After wishing him luck they left for their transport. Pulling his goggles down he raced toward the module as the entire sphere shook and started falling apart. "Naniqueen have you downloaded yourself into the convoy's system yet? He asked as he punched in his data in the keypad.

"Seventy five percent of me have left with the convoy heading for the exit point. I'm doing what I can to keep my dying children away while holding together the Nexus, but I'm having difficulty," Naniqueen responded as the lights dimmed to red and the pieces of the sphere started coming apart. "Structural integrity has been compromised and we are running on back up power. That's not enough to run the module."

"I'll take of that!" Rex activated his nanites connecting with the soil in the farming wing. He pulled at it spreading all around. Chanting a spell he used his manna to reinforce the walls with rock. In his mind he could see the blueprints to a new machine and activate it with help of his master control. A giant transformer and whip appeared. Connecting with the main power he charged up the sphere until they were at two hundred percent. Deactiving his machine he laid down on the gurney watching as leads, cables and electrodes attached to his body. The inhibitor slid down on his forehead injecting him with fine leads. "Naniqueen how long until the system is up and I'm connected to you?"

"Fifteen minutes while it reconfigures. I'm already working on restoring the connection between the reality spheres and data nodes. Slowly activate your nanites matching the energy output of the leads. Once fully activated commanded them to connect with me. You'll know when I'm bonded to you."

Rex did as we told soon blue white lines were appearing all over his body and tiny bright lights dotted them showing were his nanites were. The master control Rylander gave him was just above his heart controlled the flow input through the leads down the cables into computers and directly into Naniqueen who was busy taking control of the umbilical's and nodes. Suddenly the inhibitor lit up a surge of power hit Rex. He let out a scream of pain as he felt himself boding to Naniqueen.

Meanwhile the convoy was having its own difficulties. The part on Naniqueen that was with them kept reporting what was going on back at the sphere. As Van Kliess and Seven led the way to the exit point ducking and dodging falling streams and bits of reality Noah and Bobo fired their polarity weapons to keep at bay the flood of nanites coming after them. Holiday was helping out the few scientists who had joined them making sure they stayed healthy. Circe was sitting numbly in back with Rex's family along with Mage.

"This is Agent Six contacting Providence come in! Providence we have problems and need assistance."

"Don't we all partner. Most of Providence is down for the count, I'm running things as well as I can, but its not easy trying work this machine by myself. The androids are busy trying to keep the place from blowing up on us. Ms. Holiday is my only help here," White Knight said, who was in his suit working with an obviously in pain Quintessa who had perched Eilonwy on the computer council. Strangely the baby didn't show any signs of pain.

"We're attempting to ah reverse the scanner ahhhhh and reconstructed the digital data into ughhhhhhhh real life molecular structures I'm having difficulty creating a pattern ahhhhh for the ships we didn't scan. To make matters worth the sun crystal is giving out. I don't know why ahhh ugh."

"Mama! Mama!" 

"Eilonwy! Mama's coming don't you worry little icon! Ugh if that sun crystal dies we lose our power source and are stuck here forever. Mage what's going on?"

"I don't know unless the sun crystal is dying from overuse. It was never meant to power a machine like this forever."

"Now you tell ahhh!"

"Mama! No pwan no pwain!" Eilonwy cried at hearing her mother in pain. She didn't like the pain everyone except the scary robot man was having. She shook her little hand as a pink mist seeped from her body and filled Providence. Her birthmark glowed and silvery light streamed from her body into the sun crystal. The mix of lunar and solar magic created a new reaction to stabilize the machine. "Mama!"

"I don't how she did it, but that little brat managed to take away the pain of the dying nanites and stabilize the crystal."

"Protective automagic. Best kind there is to defend a magical child. Smart enough to direct it too. Circe your child is a genius."

"Naturally she takes after her parents."

"Now aren't you glad you didn't abort her? Alright I've managed to start programming in the new transports. Get here as soon as possible. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep the portal open."

"Will do Quintessa heading for the coordinates now. Increase our speed we have to get there quickly. Naniqueen how much time is left?"

"Thirty minutes until full failsafe activation. Rex is bonding with me right now. If his will is strong enough we should be feeling a reprise soon. If not then I don't know what."

The pain of being linked to nearly every living thing on the planet and having his thoughts traveling through computer networks nearly killed him, but Rex managed to keep his sanity. He found himself floating in a black space with binary numbers flashing. Little reality spheres and mini data streams were encircling a beautiful young woman. She had short brown hair that wrapped around her face. Her skin was creamy, eyes a chocolate brown, she was wearing a magenta colored dress suit with pumps. She smiled at Rex. "Welcome to my mind Rex. This is where all the knowledge my people have gained is store along with our hopes, dreams and our fears."

"Naniqueen is that what you really look like?"

"This avatar was created to help those who bonded with me make sense of the world around them. We don't have much time. Your body is already starting to degrade. My children are calling out to be saved. My home is falling apart. I don't know if I can repair it with only twenty five percent. It might not be enough power."

"Take my hand I got crazy idea," Rex said. The avatar did as she was told and felt a surge of an energy transfer. "I'm not going to need my manna after this so use it to keep our worlds balanced. Now I've activate my entire nanite network can you hear them?"

"Yes I can even the ones that I cut myself off from in order to save the rest. You're nanites are linked can feel it Rex all of them?" 

(Generator Rex Theme music)

Rex could see, hear, feel all the nanites every single type inside and out. Their pain was immense and their inside diseased. Focusing all his power he built up immense amount of cure energy. His real body was glowing brighter as the nanites started sending out commands to the others through the network. When he reached critical he unleashed the cure with Naniqueen's help. All over the globe the cure rushed and everyone felt it as the nanites stopped dying.

The convoy saw it in action letting out a gasp as the blackish nanites started radiating blue white light. The nanites biospheres restored themselves and their broken parts fixed. They were cured of the failsafe!

"You've done it Rex, but your jobs not done! The reboot is complete, but they need new programming. You have to reprogram them so nothing like this ever happens again. I've touched the minds of the EVOs and know which ones want to be cured and which don't. Can you guide the programming and make our dream of symbiosis come true?"

"Uh I'm trying, but my brain shutting down ah I've only managed to reprogram a third ugh I don't think I can do it."

"You have to Rex! I can only tell them what to do, but I can't show them like you can. Everyone is counting on you to do this Rex don't give up!" Naniqueen said restoring the Nexus at the same time Rex was reprogramming the nanites. She could feel it they were almost there just a little more.

_I'm so tired and I still have so many people to help. It's to hard trying to keep everything straight. I should just rest,_ Rex thought but suddenly he saw images of his friends, his family, and of course Circe holding Eilonwy and smiling at him. _No I'm not going to give up just yet. Circe, I'm sorry I'm going to miss our anniversary, but this my gift to you. I love you and Eilonwy so much._ Rex's body was pure blue now as his nanites sent his blueprints out at inhuman speeds. He increased the rate going faster and faster until his body start to dissolve into free floating bits.

"You're doing it! The real world is being restored as we speak! Incurables are turning back! Symbiosis is up to ninety seven percent! Just a bit more and you're done."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh Oh yeah!" Rex shouted as the last of the reprogramming happened ironically to his own family and friends. He smiled happy that he had saved the world. His last words before dissolving into random energy bits was heard in Circe mind.

_"Never stop singing Circe."_

Circe jerked, but didn't have much time to contemplate it as they convoy enter the Gateway portal and reemerged into real world. She felt her body being reconstructed into real molecules. Holding down on her broach it came off. She stepped off transport and picked up her smiling daughter happy to hold her again.

"I see your mission was a success Six. All over the world Providence agents are reporting in. Incurables cured, sludge areas restored, data bases functioning again. What exactly happened in there? Where is Rex?" 

"It's a long story sir one I think you'll need to sit down for. As for Rex, he made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. He's a hero."


	8. Two Miracles

It had been a week since Rex's sacrifice and much had changed in the world. For the Nanite Team it was an adjustment period getting use to being fully real again. The serum helped stabilized their bodies enough for them to be returned to normal, but there was a lot of phantom pain especially when they neared computer councils. At least they had a lot of help from governments and Ulani to restore their lives after being declared dead for six years.

Other happenings included Naniqueen adjusting to having a majority of her conscience in the real world while the rest of her remained running Central Nexus and keeping the Nanite Nexus operational. It was a strange disconnected, but Anya had helped created a physical body resembling her avatar with abilities to tap directly into data networks that helped Naniqueen. Now she could move about in the real world talking with her people or helping fix glitches in the new symbiosis. Strangely enough Naniqueen was drawn to White Knight due to his lack of nanites. She couldn't sense him at all which meant she had to get to know him. He wasn't that thrilled with getting to know the living embodiment of the things he fought tooth and nail against, but after seeing her handle questions about the new symbiosis and promising to help with the EVOs of the world he was warming up to her slightly.

The total amount of EVOs that existed in the world after the reboot and reprogramming was almost a million. Most of them were humans along with hundreds of plants and animals EVOs who chose to stay this way in attempt to bred new species to fill the gap created by extinction. This included most of the creatures in the Petting Zoo who were now tamed and cooperated with their handlers. Holiday was very busy working on the project. Not surprisingly Abysus was now permanently stabilized no longer needing Van Kliess's constant attention to keep it from going to hell. It had been officially recognized as a country with its own constitution and government. It would take a lot of work, but Anya and Van Kliess along with the Pack felt they could make it into something great. Haven had also stepped up its efforts to locate manna users now that the nanites weren't causing difficulty locating people. They also pledged to help with the new regime of nanites.

At Providence the mood was somber. After hearing the incredible events of what had occurred in the Nanite Nexus and the amazing self sacrifice of Rex White Knight didn't have the heart to say no to a memorial service. Noah had gone a step further and gave the details and evidence to the news service. The story had been running for four days now all over the world and even the most bigot people had to admit that they owed their lives to one teen EVO.

Circe was in her bedroom preparing for the service which was being held on ironically her two year anniversary of meeting Rex. She had already bathed, clothed and fed Eilonwy who was wearing a small black and white gown an infant version of her own. She had just finished applying her make up and was struggling to put on her mourning veil. Her eyes were tearing up and her hands were shaking.

"Mama? Coo babble Dada?"

"Dada's gone Eilonwy. He's not coming back my little icon."

"Dada no! Wmant Dada!"

"I do too little icon, but we have to be brave for him. Today we're going to celebrate how wonderful your dada was. So many people are coming to honor him and his sacrifice. We can't show how much we're," Circe couldn't continue she just broke down crying and sobbing unable to hold back her feelings anymore.

A knock on the door brought her to her senses. "Come hiccup in." Wilhelmina entered the bedroom quietly looking very forlorn. The Van Kliess were staying in the guest room of the suite for now. Circe hadn't wanted them there. She understood why they lied and she couldn't hate them, but she didn't want to be anywhere near them. She had blamed them for taking Rex away from her. She recalled how hours after they had returned Noah literally knocked some sense into her.

_Circe was stunned and brought her hand to her cheek where Noah had slapped her. "Why did you do that? I have every right to refuse those people a place to stay!"_

"_Those people are Rex's family and he told both of us to take care of them for him. That includes letting them stay with you until they get situated. I know it's painful and it hurts having them here while Rex is dead, but their family and you need them right now."_

"_I don't _need_ anyone especially them! They knew that Rex would die and they lied about it! They should have tried harder to find an alternative then letting him die! Everyone else was willing to do it! Heck Naniqueen was ready to kill her self and she's only a machine! They should have made her do it!"_

"_Oh so you get to decide who lives and dies? You rather have one life sacrificed that might save thousands, but leave millions dead. The rest of the world can go to hell as long as you get what you want? Look Circe I know how you feel. I'm hurting too Rex was my best friend and I loved him like a brother, but he _chose_ to make this sacrifice. He wasn't coerced or strapped into that module against his will. In life sometimes bad things happen and we look for someone to blame. People blamed my sister's condition on my mother even though there was no proof she did anything wrong, but Noelani never blamed her condition on anyone. She told me that _"In life we have ups and downs, good times and bad times, but without all the bad things in life no one would appreciate the good in life."_ Being angry about Rex's death won't change it, but if you let that anger go and allow his family in you can begin to heal."_

Circe had taken those words to heart and for the past week she had slowly been learning more about Rex's family and his past. She showed them her life and introduced them to Eilonwy and told them all about Rex's life. "Hello Willa, I was having trouble with my veil. I just couldn't get it on and the service starts in half an hour."

"Let me help you Circe, I had trouble with my own. Kacancu and Ron were struggling with their ties today. None of the men in this family can really tie a tie well. I can't believe how fast White Knight pulled this together. From the way Anya described him this is completely out of her grandfather's character."

"Rex was a big part of this organization. He saved Providence and White Knight from going under. I think White Knight is finally beginning to realize that for all his anger and fear of Rex and EVOs, he owes a lot to them as well. I just wish it didn't take his death to make him understand that."

"I miss Rex too. You had two years with him, but I barely had two days to get to know my teenage son. Ron will never get to play against his brother and my husband will never see our son graduate and go to collage. Still I remember a saying my mother told me on her deathbed. "I would gladly sacrifice everything including my life to spend a single moment with someone I love. That moment with Rex will live on inside me forever. There it's on. Well its time."

Circe picked up Eilonwy and slowly walked to the observation deck were the services were being held. Many of the guests had arrived and were mingling together munching quietly on some mini tacos and chips with salsa dip. Pews covered in purple cloth and decorated with daliahs had been set up along with an organ to play hymns on. A make shift altar covered in a black cloth with green trim with three purple candles in silver candleholders, a silver tin, and a short length of light blue rope had been set up just in front of the newly finished statue erected in Rex's honor. Eilonwy was happily clapping at the little larger then life gold and bronze statue. It did look like Rex in many ways with one hand holding the earth and the other his sword with nanites at his feet, but the expression was far too serious for him.

"Dada? Twhat Dada?"

"Sort of little icon. That statue looks like dada in honor of him."

"Oh it really looks like the kid. Personally I wanted to mess with the face a bit before they finished setting up, but agro ninja told me to leave it alone. Said it captured his spirit," Bobo hooted before turning back to his tacos. He was actually wearing a suit and had taken off his fez hat. He looked sad and was subdued.

"I think Rex's ego would be bolstered ten times by all of this. A memorial service to honor him, a statue in his likeness, people are going to eulogies him. He would have loved this. How are you holding up?" Noah questioned joining her along with the rest of Nexusnaughts. He was wearing his prom suit and was looking very tired. His family was nearby talking with some of the other guests. "How are you holding up?"

"It's hard, everyday I wake up expecting to see him there and he's not there. Eilonwy doesn't really understand what's happening. I've tried to keep busy, but it's hard. How can I think of being an ambassador of peace or training to be a High Priestess when I can barely handle having the Van Kliess's in my suite?"

"If you want Circe my family can stay with us in Abysus. Things have improved greatly. I very surprised when Biowulf reported how many EVOs ranging from plants to humans agreed to stay in our brand new country. I'm a computer programmer and former terrorist. I know nothing of politics how am I going to run a country?"

"We'll figure it out together Shaka. I'm never going to leave your side. I think the reason so many people in Abysus chose to remain EVOs when they could have been cured is because it's who they are. Rex's old friends Cricket, Tuck, and Skyidd told me that being EVOs gave them a family. They didn't have the best home lives before and now they have a future. A chance to live their lives without fear of persecution or being hunted down."

"Especially after Ulani here gets her hands on them, I'm glad your red tape finally cleared. I admit I didn't want you to leave, but after watching Rex make his sacrifice I understand why choosing your own fate it important," Holiday remarked, both twins were in identical black and gray mourning dress their hair in low buns. Quintessa smiled and gave her sister a reassuring squeeze.

"No matter where I am in the world you'll never lose me sis. Still a chance to help influence the next generation in this strange new world is something I'm not willing to pass up. If Rex taught me anything its being responsible for what is yours. Young minds are mine to influence."

"It seems Rex has influenced all of us in many different ways," Six commented, who was wearing _black_ suit with a white tie instead of his usual green. "The kid taught me a lot about hope and having fun."

"I'm happy to hear that our son managed to influence all you in so many different ways. Watching, but unable to act was so difficult. The worse was when we could see him hurting and there was nothing that could be done," Kacancu told the group softly as he joined them with Ron. Wilhelmina was talking with some members from Haven and Abysus. Setting up at the alter High Priestess Tawret wearing white with purple symbolizing death and resurrection of the spirit. She had been asked to lead the memorial service, which would be slightly different then a typical Wiccan funeral.

"I hope I can hold it together when I give my bro his eulogy. I'm much better at making toasts then talking about the dead," Ron said not even noticing when his food was stolen by Bobo.

"Thank you for taking care of Rex for the six years we couldn't. It means so much to us."

"Kacancu nothing could have replaced you in Rex's heart. I was the one honored to help care for an amazing child."

Organ music began to play and food was being taken away so the guest found their seats. It was very mixed between civilians, EVOs, Providence along with Haven and nanite scientist. The music was soft and gentle with a steady rhythm. It played for awhile before silencing as the High Priestess stood up ready to begin.

Tawret struck a match a lit each of the three candles, the sweet scent lavender and sage moved through the pews. "Birth, life, death, it is normal part our existence. Our bodies are shells constructed by water, earth, fire, wind protected by metal. Our hearts and minds are blessed, energized, and empowered by gravity, wood, lightening and ice which in turn creates of quintessence/flair that gives us life while our spirit our very souls are guided by light and darkness. Our lives resemble this cord taunt and think with many choices binding together to create our short, but wonderful life. This tin represents the afterlife where our spirit rest after our spark ends. That has always been the way in nature throughout the ages since The Goddess and her Consort blessed the world of humanity and nature to live side by side."

"Not so long ago our worlds were changed forever. A group dedicated to the betterment of humanity tried to create something that would end the wars and sickness a noble goal indeed. To create life and nurture it is the goal of any parent, but sometimes forces of chaos interfere. I hold no ill towards the nanite scientist and neither should anyone here. Our lives were altered and much was loss, but so much more was gained as well. Look at each of your neighbors and then at the statue of the hero behind me."

"Rex Van Kliess was a very unique individual who affected each of us differently. To some he was friend others a soldier while still others saw him as family or a lover. The first to embark on a journey of being bonded with our newly discovered brothers and sisters' nanites Rex paved the way for the rest of to follow. His EVO powers were strange and deadly, but instead using them to harm others he was trained by his mentor and aided by his partners in how save lives with his special talent of curing them. He awakened the manna inside him to use the power our beloved Mother Earth to prove himself worthy of being both a father and consort to his High Priestess. He was a true Guardian who defends everyone in his rather large Covenant. When he was asked to make the choice between life and death he showed no hesitance at all, instead he rose to the challenge willing doing what many of us don't have the courage to do. Before we commence with putting our brother to rest I urge us to sing for his soul to guide it towards the afterlife and so he may enter with no regrets. You'll find copies of the music in hymn boxes."

The hymn they sang was a very traditional one. The organ swelled and everyone stood up including a bulky White Knight as they all started singing "Amazing Grace."

"_Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see!" _The group sang loud and clear. The music echoed across the desert and even vibrated inside where the EVOs in the Petting Zoo were quite as they listen on.

Tears were slowly trickling down Noah's face his family, and Kate (?) and Annie as they were singing the next lines of the hymn. "_Twas grace that taught my hear to fear, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear. The hour I first believed!"_

Anya and Biowulf had to support Van Kliess his knees were buckling so badly. Nearby Breach stood with Skalamander and the Rabble Trio their hearts heavy as they sang. "_Through many dangers toils and snares I have already come; Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home!"_

Ulani passed a tissue to Quintessa who gave it Kaori who dabbed his eyes. Bobo snatched it and blew his nose hard. The hymn was coming to the end. "_The Lord has promised good to me; His Word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures."_

They sang one more hymn called "Lord of All Hopefulness" Many of the civilians were calming down and Providence agents were dealing with the death much easier as music filled their hearts. Kenwyn along with other grunts were dressed in their dress uniforms, pure black with two vertical white stripes. She had never told Rex how grateful she was for not telling on her and now his girlfriend and child were alone. As she sang she hoped the words would comfort his soul. _"Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm, whose voice is contentment whose presence is calm. Be there at our sleeping and give us, we pray, Your peace in our hearts Lord at the end of the day._ "

Tawret drew them to a close. The music ended and everyone took their seats for the rest of the service. "Our joyous voices have aided the soul of our Guardian, our soldier, our beloved friend to find his way. He should find comfort in the afterlife, but we should not dwell on the death, but celebrate the life. Before I conclude with putting the soul to rest I ask those who wish to share something to speak so that those who are left behind feel no sadness only joy."

Six stood up and straightened his tie before speaking to the whole crowd. "Six years ago we were all living in a nightmare that seemed to have no end. My partner believed that complete destruction was the only way and my friend said we need a third option a cure to save those who had been harmed. I had no idea the child I found in the rubble who asked if I'd seen his bike would become our hope. Rex was rebellious, stubborn, disobeyed orders and caused a lot of trouble. On the outside I was angry, exasperated and more then once wanted to scream. Rex never knew inside I applauded his efforts to be normal to find happiness in our line of work. I made promise I would find his family and I did. Rest in peace Rex."

"You all know who I am and I deeply regret what I was doing. It took being reunited with my nephew and having him remind me who I was that made me see the light. I loved my nephew and I will be the first to admit he beat me pretty good. My Pack and I will try to make amends to those we harmed. I only hope that it's enough."

"The boy came to our world determined to save his child. This Council has never seen anything like it before. His magic was weak, knowledge limited, but he was truly a Guardian for all off us. He helped us realize that the savior of our kind had always been there for us," Bevin spoke up.

"My brother and I didn't get to spend a lot of time together before he died. All my memories of him are from when I was little looking up to him. When he first got those powers I was jealous, I was happy I was with my parent while he was an amnesiac weapon of Providence, but six years screwed my head on straight. I could see from the Nexus how much he as suffering and I felt like a jerk for wishing this on him. I tried to make up for it with the short time we spent together. I'm to go to collage and live my life in honor of my brother."

Other's made eulogies, but Circe just couldn't stand up and speak. Eilonwy fussed wanting her mother to say something. Tawret was concluding the ceremony, snuffing out the candles of their lost "brother" and was about place the cord in the tin when she stood up. "Excuse my interruption High Priestess, but I feel I should speak before you lay my lover to rest. If I might?"

"Go right ahead," Tawret said welcoming her onto the stage. She sat down by the organ to give the girl a chance to speak. She had sensed that the girl was distraught and didn't want to say the words in her heart because then it would be real that Rex was never coming back. But now she looked ready as she watched Circe give Eilonwy to her grandmother before standing in front of the altar.

Circe looked at the crowd trembling slightly. Her heart raced as she struggled to get the words out. She looked up at Rex's statue and smiled. She swore she could hear his voice telling her that it would be okay. Confidence restored she started speaking. "My name is Circe St. Warrenting and I was Rex's girlfriend. I met Rex ironically two years ago today. He was at Caba Luna goofing off and doing spring break while I was trying to pass my initiation into the Pack. He actually bumped into me. My first thought when I saw Rex was that he was a lazy goofing idiot. I didn't have time for a boy, but I was drawn to him in a way I couldn't describe. He chased me down trying to talk to me. I couldn't understand it! Why would he want anything to do with me? It wasn't until he jumped into the water to save me from the EVO squid that I understand. Both of us were EVOs who could hide what we were, that we want a safe and happy life. I wanted to get to know him, but my initiation was more important. We argued of course, but what he said to me stayed with me. He said, "I don't care what side you're on, I just don't want to see you die." For the first time in my life someone cared for me because of me. That stayed with me."

"Over the next few months things were a rollercoaster of emotions as we struggled with our forbidden romance. Then something happened that changed that. Lord Van Kliess had an unusual plan to get Rex on our side. I won't go into the details because that's private, but we were together and the time we spent was magical. I loved learning more about each other and it soon became obvious we were soul mates. During a mission he nearly died and we ended up having a night together. From that brief union I became pregnant with our daughter Eilonwy. Our little icon was a symbol of hope to EVO kind. I can recall so many times when I was pregnant Rex was gallivanting over the world trying his best to keep it safe. I remember how I yelled at him for his undercover mission in Hong Kong worrying he was going to get himself killed. Then there was the time he kept me safe when we went shopping for baby supplies and Hunter Cain wanted to harm me. No matter what happened Rex always came home to me. It was because of this that we showed the public they had nothing to fear from us or our offspring. I had no idea that my little girl would awaken a part of us that we never knew existed. It was because of Rex's undying hope and the love he felt for his new family that we were able to ally ourselves with Haven and get our daughter back. I saw more then a magical Guardian who was the counter to my High Priestess. I saw a wonderful father, a brave lover, and a friend who would do anything to save those most important to him. He changed overnight from a carefree teen to a responsible adult."

"This last mission to the Nanite Nexus was the most important one of Rex's life. He was so scared that his family would hate him for being an EVO. For the first time in my life I was the one comforting him telling him it would be alright. That he had nothing to fear. The time Rex spent with his family was the happiest time in his life. When we learned why Rex was brought there to be a sacrifice for the world, I was so angry I wanted to use my powers to destroy the module or at least harm his family. I couldn't understand why they would be willing to let their oldest son, my love and one day husband, die. Rex, sob sob, excuse me Rex showed an inner strength I had never seen before. He knew he would die and I would have to raise our daughter by myself, but at least we be alive. He did what he did to save all of us so that we could live the life he wasn't going to have. His last words echoed in my mind. He said to never stop singing," Circe cried, reaching into her dress pocket pulling out a mini player and CD.

"This was his anniversary gift to me. He knew how much I loved to sing and even though he wasn't the best he would sing with me and to each other, to our daughters sometimes even to his friends. He was the sweetest guy. This CD is a mix of our favorite songs with him and me singing. I would like to share one of the songs with you. One that was very dear to our hearts. This song comes from one our favorite movies. High School Musical 3 Senior Year. Yeah laugh it up. The song is called, "I Just Want to Be With You." She put the CD in the player and pressed play.

The version of the song was the second one from the movie during the musical scene. The first part had Sharpay singing to Jimmie Troy's stand in the movie. It was a little surprising to the crowd that Rex actually liked this stuff.

" _Ooo, yeah, ooh, yeah  
I gotta lot of things, I have to do  
All these distractions, our futures coming soon  
Were being pulled, a hundred different directions  
But whatever happens, I know I've got you  
You're on my mind, you're in my heart  
It doesn't matter where we are  
Well be alright, even if were miles apart  
Even if were miles apart!  
Even if were, miles, and miles, and miles apart!_

[Jimmie]  
All, I wanna do, is be with you, be with you

[Sharpay & Jimmie]  
Theres nothing we can do

[Sharpay]  
Eww

[Sharpay & Jimmie]  
I just wanna be with you

[Jimmie]  
Only you

[Sharpay & Jimmie]  
No matter where life takes us, nothing can break us apart  
  
_[Sharpay]  
A-a-achoo!_

[Jimmie]  
I just wanna be with

[Sharpay]  
Eww

[Jimmie]  
You! 

It was at this point that Rex's and Circe's voice took over. Unbeknownst to everyone a bluish white cloud of energy bits was hovering over the memorial service just watching and listening.

_[Rex]  
You know how life can be, it changes over night_

[Rex and Circe]  
The sun even raining, but it's alright

[Circe]  
A friend like you

[Rex and Circe]  
Always makes it easy!

Naniqueen felt a jolt of recognition go through her body. She looked around furiously trying to find the source. Anya whispered, to her "What is it? You're ruining the moment."

"I heard Rex's nanites! It's very faint and disconnected, but I know I feel his presence! I'm not mistaken I would know that network anywhere!"

Anya didn't doubt that and on the slim chance Rex was here she started surveying the area with her eye. It locked onto a growing cloud of bluish white data bits and energy that was drawing closer to Circe. "What in the world is that?" __

[Rex]  
I know that you get me

[Rex and Circe]  
Every time  
Through every up, through every down,  
You know i'll always be around  
Through anything, you can count on me!  
All I wanna do, is be with you, be with you  
There's nothing we can do, I just wanna be with you, only you  
No matter where life takes us, nothing can break us apart

[Rex]  
You know it's true

[Rex and Circe]  
I just wanna be with you! I just wanna be with you!  


By now others were noticing as the cloud of energy swirled around Circe. Haven members could feel faint manna emissions coming from the cloud. Eilonwy was clapping happily almost delight by the sight of her mother surrounded by the energy cloud. Sounds were coming from the cloud almost sounding like a human voice.

_[Rex]  
The sun will always shine, thats how you made me feel  
Were gonna be alright, cause what we have is real_

[Circe]  
And will always be together

The cloud was taking on the shape of a human standing next to Circe trying to touch her. Circe was scared almost stopping, but Mage yelled at her. "NO keep singing. I don't know what's going on but it seems drawn to the music and your voice. Sing everyone join it!"__

[Rex, Circe, Crowd]  
All I wanna do, is be with you, be with you  
There's nothing we can do, I just wanna be with you, only you  
No matter where life takes us, nothing can break us apart

[Rex]  
You know it's true

[Rex, Circe, Crowd]  
I just wanna be with you!

[Circe]  
All I wanna do

[Rex, Circe, and Crowd]  
All that I wanna do, is be with you!  
All that I wanna do, is be with you!  
All that I wanna do, I just wanna be with you!  
All that I wanna do, I just wanna be with you!  


The crowd watched in amazement as the cloud solidified. Slowly at first but faster and faster flesh and blood appeared then clothing. As the last of the lines were sung there was a flash of light and standing there, next to Circe, holding her hand was Rex.

"Rex? Is that really you?"

"Yeah it's me Circe."

"How? You were dead; Naniqueen said your body dissolved into nothing more then free floating energy and data bits."

"I don't know I was floating in this white space heading for a warm light. I was about to enter when I heard you singing. I followed your voice and here I am. Before I forget there was something I was going to ask you," Rex said getting on one knee and pulling a small box from his pocket. Inside was a small diamond ring. "Will you marry me?"

"Oh Rex of course I'll marry you! Welcome back!" Circe shouted crying loudly as he slipped the ring on her finger. After that everyone was all over the couple asking Rex a dozens of questions. They were so glad that their beautiful memorial service had turned into a rebirth ceremony instead.

Rex was poked, prodded, and scanned at least a dozen times, but no one not Naniqueen, Anya, or Holiday could ever come up with a definitive reason for Rex's sudden resurrection. According to all the data he should have died giving it everything he had to restore the nanites to full health and reboot and reprogram them. Van Kliess suggested that maybe Rex DNA his "blue prints" had been copied and restored him, but in the end no one cared. It was a miracle and that's all that mattered.

"I'm just so happy to have my son back. Oh Rex you don't know how much this means to us, everyone here that your back. I love you Rexy," Wilhelmina said hugging her son to death.

"It's alright Mom really like I said it doesn't matter anymore. I love that statue of me. It shows how awesome I am. You think we can keep it?"

"That statue is going to remain there as a permanent reminder of your brave act. But forget the statue we have a lot to celebrate and get ready for. First you're going to pick up your grades then we can talk about your wedding to Circe," Kacancu sternly told him.

Three months later the attendance to the wedding was almost double to what it had been at the memorial service. It was being held in the same place only this time the pews were decorated with violets, daffodils, and tiger lilies. A white runner with gold thread went up to the altar where Tawret was waiting to perform the ceremony. A circle had been drawn and two glasses filled with honey water stood in the center. Four candles, (white, red, green, blue) stood in the corner while right behind the glasses was a rainbow candled. A beautiful arch of different colored silk and garlands stood in front of the altar. The Councilmembers were singing softly and the entire guests were now wearing festive happy clothes.

"I brought extra tissues. I hope I can keep from crying too much," Holiday whispered, she was reading a nice asymmetrical one sleeve yellow dress and had her hair was up in a fancy do. She was wearing an engagement ring. Six, who was wearing something a bit more festive, had proposed about a week ago. Bobo had been teasing them endlessly, but had finally settled down.

"I'm sure you'll be able to keep it together. This should be very interesting."

Anya was being escorted to her seat by the Pack members. They had all cleaned up nicely and were looking forward to the wedding. Breach actually had a part in the ceremony which would be a combination Wiccan, Spanish, and American. Anya was in a beautiful lilac dress that was cut to perfection and showed all her curves. She too sported an engagement ring happy to finally have her life on track. Nearby she saw others from their adventure wearing their best outfits. Ulani was wearing a powder blue dress and was sitting next to Noah's family talking amicably with them about how smoothly everything was going at her new school in Abysus. She also smiled at the sight of her grandfather actually wearing a normal tux not a suit and sitting next to Naniqueen. Working with her androids she and Naniqueen had created a serum that would keep the nanites from invading his body. It was completely reversible and if at any time he chose to join the rest of the world in symbiosis they could administer the antidote. She didn't have time to think more about it, the choir had started singing the wedding march.

The first down the runner was the maid of honor and bestman, Breach and Noah, wearing a beautiful light pink long sleeved v neck form fitting dress that had extra holes in it for her arms. Her hair was tied up in bun and she wore light make up. She was carrying a bouquet matching the flowers scheme with one pair of arms and the others were holding Noah's arms. He was dressed in his tux and grinning like an idiot. They took their respected places next by the arch.

Next down the runner were the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Circe had asked both Cricket and Kenwyn to be her bridesmaid and they had happily agreed. Both girls wore similar dresses to Breach, but the neckline was A and the dress length a bit shorter. Tuck and Skyidd looked dashing in their dark blue tuxes and bointiners. They had also been pleased to have such an important honor bestowed to them. They took their respectful places and watched the next two come down the aisle.

Bobo was grumbling a bit, but dutifully carried the rings on satin pillow in one hand while keeping a firm grip on eleven month old Eilonwy's hand as she happily scattered orange blossom petals and giggled. The little girl was toddling along slowly in her white gown. She had no idea what was going on, but she was happy. She cheered and clapped at the sight of the next person down the aisle.

Rex was being escorted by his whole family instead of just his mother as Spanish custom dictated. He was dressed in black tux with an orange belt and had an orange blossom pinned to his label. He smiled and kissed his family before his father gave him a bag of thirteen gold coins for luck and prosperity. They then took their seats as the most important member of the party started walking down the aisle.

Van Kliess had volunteered to walk Circe down the aisle. He was wearing the same clothes from that party at the embassy. Next to him in a gothic style gown with a long train and black lace veil sporting her priestess jewelry and hair in ringlets carrying orange blossoms was Circe. She was smiling and had tears in her eyes. She was so happy to be here with the man she loved and was more then ready to get married. The two of them stood in front of the altar waiting for Tawret to speak.

"Blessed be and merry met my friends. Today marks a momentous occasion. Two souls filled with true love are ready to commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives. No one here can deny they belong together can they? No then Divine One, I ask thee to bless this couple, their love, and their marriage as long as they shall live in love together.  
May they each enjoy a healthy life filled with joy, love, stability and fertility."

Turning east she lit the white candle and said, "Blessed be by the element of air. May you be blessed with communication, intellectual growth, and wisdom."

Next she turned south lighting the red candle, "Blessed be by the element of fire. May you be blessed with harmony, vitality, creativity, and passion."

Turning west she lit the blue candle reciting, "Blessed be by the element of water. May you be blessed with friendship, intuition, caring, understanding, and love."

Turning north she lit the green candle, "Blessed be by the element of earth. May you be blessed with tenderness, happiness, compassion, and sensuality."

Facing everyone she lit the rainbow colored candle, "Blessed be all the elements and undying spirit. May you be blessed with undying hope and protection. Rex and Circe enter this circle today to join as one."

"In all the eons, the long slow climb of evolution has no greater culmination than the union of people in love.  
From the time the first amoeba fissioned into two, there has been the possibility of companionship - and the possibility of loneliness.  
From the time Nature invented sexual reproduction, love has been a quickening." 

"In humans as self-aware beings, sexuality provided a way that love can conjoin the bodies, hearts, minds, and souls of those who love."

"Humans have sadly turned away from Nature's harmony for most of our lives. There is war, loneliness, and desolation, and the soul of Nature mourns." 

"So when there are those of us who love enough to make a commitment such as this one tonight between Bride and Groom the very stars rejoice at the rediscovery of love, joy, and bounty."

"Love has its seasons the same as does the Earth.  
In the spring of love is the discovery of each other, the pulse of the senses, the getting to know the mind and heart of the other; a blooming like the buds and flowers of springtime."

"In the summer of love comes the strength, the commitment to each other, the most active part of life, perhaps including the giving of life back to itself through children; the sharing of joys and sorrows, the learning to be humans who are each complete and whole but who can merge each with the other, as the trees grow green and tall in the heat of the sun."

"In the fall of love is the contentment of love that knows the other completely. Passion remains, and ease of companionship.  
The heart smoothes love into a steady light, glorious as the autumn leaves."

"In the winter of love, there is parting, and sorrow. But love remains, as do the stark and bare tree trunks in the snow, ready for the renewal of love in the spring as life and love begin anew."

"Now is the time of summer I ask this couple to drink this honey water. The honey represents fertility and hope and the water the purity and cleansing of the soul." Tawret recited.

Rex and Circe each took a glass and clinked them together before drinking the honey water. Tears and sniffles could be heard from the guests. Holiday dabbed her eyes with a tissue and even White Knight was having difficulty keeping it together.

"As I tie this cord around their hands I am binding two souls as one. Where you go you will always be linked, whatever troubles you face you shall do together. All your happiness shall be shared. Do you now commit to each other to love, honor, respect each other, to communicate with each other, to look to your own emotional health so that you can relate in a healthy way, and provide a healthy home for children if you choose to have them; to be a support and comfort for your partner in times of sickness and health, as long as love shall last?"

"We do."

"Speak your vows so that we may know your feelings are honest and true.

Circe spoke first looking Rex directly in the eyes. "I have loved you Rex since the first moment I saw you. You gave me hope when I was lost. You never gave up on me and encouraged me to find my own way in life. No matter how bad our lives have gotten you always have a smile on your face. The way you raise our daughter shows me what kind of man you are and I can only hope to match your example. I love you Rex with all my heart and soul."

"Circe you are the answer to a prayer I didn't know I had. You were the first girl I ever met, the only other EVO like me. Your beauty and intelligence captured my heart and even when we were on separate sides you still loved me. I have never regretted our time together and I only want to spend the rest of my new life with you and our daughter. I love you Circe with all my heart and soul."

"May we have the rings please?"

Bobo held up the pillow and Noah and Breach each took a ring. They placed it gently in the bride and grooms hand stepping back. Eilonwy giggled as her parents readjusted their tied hands so they could do the next step.

"Let us bless the rings.

Circles represent eternity, and though our lives are finite, love is everlasting, the creative force that binds us together, and the force that gives new life.

The blessings of the wind upon these rings and your love, that you share communication and creativity.

The blessings of fire upon these rings and your love, that you share passion and the spirit.  
The blessings of water upon these rings and your love, that you share love and compassion.  
The blessings of the earth upon these rings and your love, that you share health and sexuality.

We humans are born of stardust and deepest oceans, of erupting volcanoes and the bones of the earth.  
In celebrating love you celebrate a heritage of all these things, and of the love of all humans from the dawn of time.  
In making a commitment to loving each other, you share that which is best in us and give a moment of light to the world.

Circe, place the ring on Rex's finger and repeat after me:  
With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring, thee wed," Circe whispered.

"Rex, place the ring on Circe's hand and repeat after me:  
With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring, I thee wed," Rex said with such passion you could light a bonfire with it." The bridesmaids and groomsmen were having a difficult time not crying.

Tawret smiled and spoke the final words in the ceremony, "I now pronounce you married. May you each and together be blessed with health, happiness, harmony, and love. So mote it be!"

"So mote it be!" The whole crowd echoed and everyone started cheering and throwing orange blossoms as Rex and Circe shared their first kiss as husband and wife. Everyone was laughing and crying and the choir was singing again as the parents untied the cord and picked up their little one to walk back down the aisle and to the reception.

It was a rocking fiesta with plenty of food, drink (alcoholic and non) along with plenty of music and dancing. Providence was footing the bill so no expenses were spared to decorate one of the larger training areas and convert it to a reception hall. People happily munched on Spanish horderves before a three course dinner mostly a mix of Hispanic and American food was served. Holiday grimaced at the spiciness of some the traditional food, but Ulani laughed.

"You never were one for Spanish food Quintessa. I guess you'll be serving something different at your wedding."

"After all the fuss made about this wedding I'm wondering if elopement is a good idea," Six said, taking a bite out of his salmon. It was quite good.

"Something tells me that running away won't get us away from the media," Van Kliess responded.

"What is your sister in law doing Shaka?" Anya asked. She had noticed Circe and Wilhelmina having female guest reach into a basket of pins resembling lilies and orchids. The girls in turn would place them upside down in their hair.

"It's a Spanish tradition. The girls dance with the pins in their hair and should they fall out the young lady is guaranteed to be married soon. We thought it would be a good idea to incorporate some of my ethnic background into the wedding," Kacancu explained.

"I sure hope you guys are good dancers. The sequidillas manchegas is important because we have to dance and present the newlyweds with a gift. Believe me if the salsa and tango don't do you in that one will," Ron told the group. Everyone tensed, but went back to eating their meal.

Rex and Circe enjoyed their meal with their little one and even laughed when she gobbled up her piece of cake. They basked in the lights of the toast in their honor and were happy to toss the bouquet and garter which Breach and Noah who blushed five shades of red. Finally it was time for the couple's first dance and everyone left the floor. A slow rhythmic music could be heard and suddenly the song, "Can I Have This Dance?" from HSM3 with Circe and Rex's voice started playing.

_Take my hand, take a breath  
Pull me close and take one step  
Keep your eyes locked on mine,  
And let the music be your guide_.

_Won't you promise me (now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget)  
We'll keep dancing (to keep dancing) wherever we go next_

Rex took Circe's hand and glided onto the dance floor. The two of them started to waltz surprising everyone. Rex twisted Circe around, spun her out and the brought her back close as they continued to dance. _  
_

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you  
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do  
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better  
So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)  
Can I have this dance  
_  
_Take my hand, I'll take the lead  
And every turn will be safe with me  
Don't be afraid, afraid to fall  
You know I'll catch you threw it all_

And you can't keep us apart (even a thousand miles, can't keep us apart)  
'Cause my heart is (cause my heart is) wherever you are

Rex lifted Circe over his head and started spinning around laughing. Circe dropped down to the ground and pressed her back to him before leading him into the next step.__

It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you  
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do  
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better  
So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)  
Can I have this dance

Oh no mountains too high enough, oceans too wide  
'Cause together or not, our dance won't stop  
Let it rain, let it pour  
What we have is worth fighting for  
You know I believe, that we were meant to be  


The coupled danced across the floor dipping and twirling about. The two of them were the happiest people in the world with all eyes on them.

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you (like you)  
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do (way we do)  
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better  
So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)  
Can I have this dance_

Can I have this dance  
Can I have this dance

Everyone cheered as the happy couple kissed at the end of their dance. Eilonwy was chanting mommy and daddy over and over happy that they were happy. It was the perfect moment that couldn't be spoiled. The rest of the wedding was a big success, but soon normal business reared its head just as the festivities were coming to a close. A person had accidently activate their evolution function of their nanites.

Scooping up their daughter everyone quickly changed and headed out. Married life was great, but the world needed it heroes. That was one thing that was never going to change! 


End file.
